Dark wave – 7th Level Music

Review: Fake Youth Cult – White Light / Black Noise

Fake Youth Cult is actually Dutch artist Richard van Kruysdijk, who created his new EP, White Light / Black Noise, with minimal arrangements. “The concept behind the songs is: create one song a day with a minimal, mainly analogue setup. Just a few synths, some drum samples, a sequencer and GO!” – he says in the press release sent to me. The result is an impressive work that mixes dark techno with some punk, and one track is even meant for a ballet performance.

The trolling synth-bass of “Visitor” grabs your attention right away, and you feel like you’re about to enter a combat arena filled with menacing robots. “Scorched” is probably how the dance floor is left after it’s played, as it’s full of powerful synths and hot, crashing beats.

Then along comes “Messing,” which will become your new favorite industrial dance track. It hits all the right beats and notes, transporting you to dark clubs in places with leaky ceilings and sweaty people who may or may not be undead fiends. “Smear” roars right by you like an out-of-control truck hauling scrap metal.

“Management” starts off side B (if you’re hearing this on vinyl) with pulsing sounds that mimic a lover’s heartbeat in the throes of rapturous sex. The looped, echoing vocals of a woman saying, “I feel…I see…I touch…I need…More…” are alluring and haunting. “Pulsar,” the closing track, is the one made for a ballet performance. van Kruysdijk often collaborates with dance troupes, and this track, with its relentless kick drum and buzzing, ticking motor-like beats, must create quickened heart rates in the dancers and audience.

The whole EP is like that, really. It’s heart-racing. Brace yourself before you play it.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dan at Discipline PR!]

Cold Cave return with creepy cool new single – “She Reigns Down.”

Cold Cave returns with a new single of dark poetry and high energy any-wave for the spiritually lustful, titled “She Reigns Down.” This single drop marks their first new recorded material since 2021 and is an exemplary addition to their impressive oeuvre.

Since their inception in 2007, Cold Cave have released a number of singles, LP’s, EP’s, and compilations, and have become synonymous with the modern-day resurgence of darkwave and synth-pop. Last year, the band reissued their landmark releases Cremations, Love Comes Close, Cherish The Light Years, Full Cold Moon, and Fate In Seven Lessons on 180gram vinyl on Heartworm Press. Their continuous output solidifies Cold Cave’s past while catapulting them into the future.

Listen / share “She Reigns Down” on YouTube.

Cold Cave spent the majority of 2023 on the road with the likes of Depeche Mode, The Cult, as headliners and more. The group, which features underground luminary Wes Eisold and multi-instrumentalist Amy Lee, continues to carry the torch for modern post-punk.

Look for more news from Cold Cave soon.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Stephanie at Another Side.]

Review: Anja Huwe – Codes

Back in the early 1980s, Anja Huwe was the lead singer (although not originally by choice) of German post-punk pioneers Xmal Deutschland. The band tore across the world, inspiring many and becoming somewhat secret legends before they split up for other ventures. Huwe became a fashion model and visual artist, but music was still in her blood. Now, almost out of nowhere, she’s returned with a new album, Codes, and is exploring what it’s like to live in extremes – be it extreme environments, relationships, or beliefs.

Beginning with gothic, lonely guitar chords by fellow Xmal Deutschland bandmate Manuela Rickers, “Skuggornas” has Huwe confessing, “I don’t regret anything I’ve done. I have lived, and I have sinned.” Most of us can’t admit half of that, and here Huwe is doing it with elegance. “Rabenschwarz” (“Black Raven”) hits with powerful industrial crunch and themes of rebirth.

“I changed myself into myself,” Huwe sings on “Pariah.” The drum beats on it start at a slow boil and are soon cooking a luxurious brew. “Exit” moves around you like a cat that might be an android in disguise. Rickers’ guitar sounds like its being played in an abandoned factory a half-mile away (to produce a cool effect, mind you). “O Wald” (“Oh Forest”) could easily fit into a science fiction movie or the soundtrack to season five of Stranger Things with its computer-generated 16-bit-like synth beats.

“Zwischenwelt” (“Intermediate World”) would also fit on that soundtrack with both its theme of being between worlds and also its misty synths and Huwe’s beautiful vocals on it. “Sleep with One Eye Open” reminds me a bit of early Peter Gabriel tracks with its neat bass line, slightly weird percussion, and Huwe’s delivery. “How shall we face the cold?” Huwe asks on the somewhat stark, yet aggressive “Living in the Forest” – inspired by diary entries of a boy, Moshe Shnitzki, who left his home in 1942 to live in the White Russian Forest. “The woods are lovely, dark and deep,” she sings on the following, closing track, “Hideaway,” leaving us with hope that more music from Huwe (and Xmal Deutschland?) will come.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

Annie-Claude Deschênes “Phones” you with her new single.

After sharing her debut solo single “MENACE MINIMALE“ at the end of last year, Montreal based multidisciplinarity artist Annie-Claude Deschênes has announced her debut album ‘LES MANIÈRES DE TABLE’ will be released this Spring via Italians Do It Better + Bonsound. Today Deschênes is sharing the second single from the record, “PHONES”.

The track is a standard call for a restaurant reservation that turns into an anxiety attack. A reflection on the absurdity of good manners that sometimes lead us to rigidity and over-politeness. The robotic rhythms, made from interference noises and ringtones, punctuate the conversation while the repetitive bass line accentuates this hymn to alienation.

“PHONES” on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1USaV5X22M
“PHONES” on other streaming services:https://idib.ffm.to/phones

As a key figure on the Montreal independent music scene for the last two decades, she has left her mark as a performer & visual artist with Duchess Says & PyPy; two bands that are renowned as much for their electrifying live shows as they are for their artistic sensibilities. Always forward, her exploratory approach takes her into uncharted territory with her debut as a solo artist. The urgency that characterises her work remains, but frustration & aggression give way to introspection & vulnerability. Driven by the endless need to create outside her comfort zone, Annie-Claude Deschênes reinvents herself once again.

Over the course of her career, Annie-Claude Deschênes shared the stage with a number of renowned bands, including The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, The Black Lips, The Hives, The Hot Snakes & Buzzcocks, among others. Her extensive touring has taken her all over the world, playing venues & festivals (Primavera Fest, Eurockéennes de Belfort, OSHEAGA, Sled Island, etc.) as well as unconventional locations like golf courses, factories & churches. Her career is punctuated by collaborative projects linking various art forms, including the co-founding of the collective Conclusion Finale, with whom she exhibits at Concordia University’s VAV gallery, the DARE-DARE diffusion center & Université Laval in Quebec City, & the production of the soundtrack for Yves St-Laurent’s Los Angeles fashion show with PyPy. Winner of the 2022 cohort of the PHI NORD program, she was awarded a two-week immersive creative residency, during which her songs transformed into a tangible debut album titled ‘LES MANIÈRES DE TABLE’ due in Spring.

See Annie-Claude Deschênes live:
April 26 – PHI Centre, Montreal, QC
May 2 – Club Saw, Ottawa, ON
May 10 – CEM, Chicoutimi, QC
May 11 – Pantoum, Québec, QC

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Frankie at Stereo Sanctity.]

Maquina release powerful industrial psych single – “denial.”

Lisbon trio MAQUINA. (‘Machine’) are today announcing album ‘PRATA’ (‘Silver’), due out April 5th on Fuzz Club, and sharing the first single ‘denial’. In support of the release, MAQUINA. will head out on a European tour with A Place To Bury Strangers, followed by festival appearances at Primavera Porto, Sonic Blast and Fuzz Club 2024.

Drawing from minimal krautrock repetition, pounding industrial techno and EBM, MAQUINA. explore the boundaries of these genres with force, carving out an adrenaline-fuelled sound that’s equally suited to dark, sweaty back rooms and the dance floor. On the new single, MAQUINA. write: “denial is about an inner turmoil and restless contemplation. The raw, haunting lyrics explore the struggle to find solace within oneself, amidst a sea of conflicting emotions. The plea to ‘shut me down’ echoes the yearning for respite in the face of overwhelming darkness.”

Listen to single “denial”:https://youtu.be/8QyfC_O3mDc
Pre-order/pre-save album ‘PRATA’:http://maquina.lnk.to/prata

Though their sound might have the club in its sights – ‘PRATA’ follows their aptly-titled 2023 debut EP ‘DIRTY TRACKS FOR CLUBBING’ – this is an organic dance music that’s equally punk and psychedelic, played by a guitar-drums-bass power trio formation firing on all cylinders, without a synthesiser in sight. Having already amassed a notorious reputation in Portugal for the all-out energy of their live shows (as evidenced in this live video broadcast by Canal180), it’s no mean feat to replicate that in the studio but on ‘PRATA’ they have managed exactly that – owing to a creative approach largely rooted in improvisation, both on stage and in the studio.

Describing ‘PRATA’, recorded and co-produced by Carlos de Jesus (Sunflowers) at Arda Recorders, they write: “This album was composed spontaneously in the studio throughout the year 2023. It’s music of colour, delving into depths and dimensions that resonate with scale and contrast. Pushing sounds together to make noise and pushing noise together to make sounds. Emphasising textures that evoke feelings and soundscapes rather than relying solely on textual narratives. The music breathes life into auditory canvases, painting sonic panoramas pushing into a world of tactile sensation and immersive experiences.”

MAQUINA. tour dates:
06/04 – Köln, DE @ Club Volta*
07/04 – Karlsruhe, DE @ P8*
09/04 – Milan, IT @ Arci Bellezza*
10/04 – Bologna, IT @ Covo Club*
11/04 – Rome, IT @ Monk*
15/04 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F*
17/04 – Marseille, FR @ La Makeda*
18/04 – Toulouse, FR @ Le Rex*
20/04 – Madrid, ES @ El Sol*
21/04 – San Sebastián, ES @ Dabadaba*
04/05 – Eindhoven, NL @ Fuzz Club 2024
07/06 – Porto, PT @ Primavera Sound
8-10/08 – Âncora, PT @ Sonic Blast 24
* with A Place To Bury Strangers

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

Review: Claudio Simonetti – Demons soundtrack (2023 reissue)

I picked this up the night I saw Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin play this score live to a screening of Demons (properly known as Demoni) in Chicago last year. The film is nuts, to put it mildly, and the score is a wild synthwave ride into dark places and crazy action sequences.

“Demon” starts us off with throbbing synth-bass to set the tone for what’s going to be a weird experience, and “Cruel Demon” is like a discovering a snake has slithered into the room and leads us into “Killing.” There’s plenty of that in the film, so it’s only appropriate that there’s a song called this. Heck, Lamberto Bava and Dario Argento, the creators of the film, could’ve just called it Killing. The song has neat orchestral synths mixed with electro-drums and metal guitar solos.

“The Evil One” is, appropriately, the creepiest tune on the entire soundtrack, with heartbeat beats and sinister synths to give you chills. “Out of Time” begins with violins and then switches to almost vaporwave sounds straight out of an early 1980s shopping mall. It’s wonderfully weird.

The Rustblade edition of the score is full of bonus tracks. The CD version is two discs. Disc One has two demo versions of the title track and one of “Killing,” a 2002 live version of “Demon,” a Simonetti Horror Project version of it from 1990, and, best of all the previously unreleased “Demon’s Lounge,” which, yes, is a lounge version of the title track. It’s amazing. I’d love a whole album of stuff like this from Simonetti.

Disc Two is all remixes by various artists, with only one by the Simonetti Horror Project. OHGR first remixes “Demons,” then Cervello Elettronico provides a cool industrial version of “Cruel Demon.” Simulakrum Lab gets you to to the dance floor with their remix of “Killing.” The Devil and The Universe remix “Threat” into something you’d hear while Jason Vorhees is pursuing you through a late night dance club.

:Bahntier// turns “The Evil One” into a full-out rave classic. Needle Sharing sees that and raises a drum and bass remix of “Out of Time.” Leæther Strip‘s remix of “Demons” adds more industrial throbs and grit to Simonetti’s original track. Chris Alexander gets creepy on his remix of “Killing,” and Creature from the Black goes all-out dance club mix on “Demon.” Dope Star Inc. slows things down on their remix of “Killing,” turning it into a stalking machine. Finally, the Simonetti Horror Project version of “Demon” pumps up the jams with hip hop beats and cool synth flairs to round out the second disc with a remix that is, I dare say, fun.

It’s a classic score for a wild horror film, and a must for fans of such stuff.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Melody Fields – 1991

I’m not sure if calling Melody Fields‘ 1991 album a “companion piece” to their 1901 album is correct. It feels more link a continuation of 1901, or perhaps a better world is a transformation of it, not unlike the flower on 1991‘s cover opening to reveal things previously hidden.

1991 also has plenty of guest collaborators, whereas 1901 was all Melody Fields all of the time. The opening track, “Hallelujah,” (a remix / re-edit / re-imagining of “Jesus” from 1901) is a spaced out team-up with Snake Bunker. “Blasphemy” is a wall of My Bloody Valentine-inspired sound – beautiful, loud, and somewhat intimidating. Psych-DJ Al Lover teams up with Melody Fields on “Jesus Lover,” bringing up the drum beats and bass to turn “Jesus” into a dance track.

“Dandelion” rolls along like a cool van painted with some kind of wild ancient warrior artwork on the side. You can envision warm wind whipping through your hair, perhaps with a dandelion tucked behind one ear, as you drive out to a coastal music festival. Human Language joins Melody Fields, appropriately on “Talking with Jesus.” They slow down “Jesus” almost to a crawl, turning it into a dark wave track that beckons you from behind a curtain at the back of a weird store is some forgotten rust belt town.

The bold guitars on “Diary of a Young Man” bring images of dusty ghost towns to mind…and then it suddenly hits you with vocals that could be from an actual ghost for all I know. Get your incense ready for “Bhagavana Najika Cha,” because it might lift you off the ground, and the closer, “Son of Man” (guest-starring fellow Swedish psych-giants GOAT), keeps you afloat until after the album is done.

It’s a neat record that shows off Melody Fields’ different music influences, loves, and talents. Where else are you going to hear a record that blends psychedelia, dark wave, and dance grooves?

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Melody Fields!]

Top 25 albums of 2023: #’s 5 – 1

Here we go with my favorite albums of 2023.

#5: Sound Cipher – All That Syncs Must Diverge

This is a cool synthwave album of cinematic sounds that often catches you off-guard. It’s the soundtrack to a movie you’ve never seen, but want to find just from hearing it. It might exist in another dimension, or on a dark web torrent stream. Either way, it’s one of the neatest records I heard all last year.

#4: Mandy, Indiana – I’ve Seen a Way

Speaking of cool synthwave, Mandy, Indiana‘s debut album was a stunner on multiple fronts, as it covers not only synthwave, but also cold wave, dance punk, goth, and general chaos. They’re quickly becoming one of those “bands everyone’s talking about,” so don’t miss this record.

#3: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – PostDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation

Only King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard could get away with naming an album something like that. It was their return to thrash metal, this time built around one of their favorite subjects – protecting our fragile planet. It was one of the best metal records of the year.

#2: Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Land of Sleeper

This album held my top spot for a long while, as it’s a powerful stoner / psych / cosmic rock record that hits hard with shredding guitar, pleading vocals, and roaring drums. It’s all about dreams, death, and what-the-hell-are-you-doing-with-this-life-you-have-that’s-gone-like-a-flash-of-lightning-you-git introspections.

#1: Matthew Halsall – An Ever Changing View

Simply put, this is the most beautiful record I heard all year, and it’s a prime example of why you should always read old e-mails. This sat in my e-mail box for about four months before I finally got to it. I’m glad I didn’t delete that e-mail in a big purge, because Halsall’s album of ambient jazz, field sounds, and slight trip-hop touches is one of those albums that changes the attitude of the room wherever it’s played.

Thanks for reading and for sticking with me another year. Onto 2024!

Keep your mind open.

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Review – Augustus Muller – Cellulosed Bodies

Diving further into his love / obsession with 1980s horror / thriller synthwave music, Boy Harsher‘s Augustus Muller teamed up with artist / kinky movie maker Vex Ashley of Four Chambers to create two films scores – one to a film that already existed and another to one that is new, and both of which explore the sexual relationship between humans and technology on the album Cellulosed Bodies.

The first half is a tribute to David Cronenberg‘s 1996 film Crash – in which the main characters are turned on by car crashes. Muller’s six-song “score” to the film (originally done by Howard Shore). “Fur and Metal” slowly takes us into this new, weird world of strange pleasures and soon we’re “Sharing a Smoke,” but how much of it is from a cigarette and how much is from burned wreckage along a dark road? Muller’s use of synths throughout the six tracks are at times haunting and other times throbbing like the pulse in your neck after something stressful and / or sensual. “Perverse Technology” is a perfect example of this, as somewhat creepy synths rise and fall like a lover’s chest taking deep breaths to maintain control while the beats mimic the twitchy brain impulses to seize pleasure now instead of making it last as long as possible. “Body as Machine” sums up the theme of the album’s first half (and Cronenberg’s film) in the title and in the grinding, pulsating synth-beats, and “Shattered Glass” ends the first half with something that isn’t quite afterglow, but more “after-shadow.”

The second half is Muller’s score to Ashley’s film Automaton – which, according to the liner notes, “…features a severe computer entity and trapped prey, succumbing to pleasure…” Reading that, and then hearing the ten tracks that follow, you think, “Yeah, that sounds about right.” The tracks featuring fewer beats, but more experimentation – again the theme of exploring new pleasures that at first might seem frightening – such as “Initialize,” “Next Subject,” and “Endoscopy.” “Examination” uses some subtle industrial clangs for beats, but they never overwhelm the track. “Acceptance” has the “trapped prey” accepting its pleasurable fate (or is the computer accepting it?). I’m guessing it’s the former, because the next track is “You Belong to the Machine” – which builds with a slow menace like a snake that’s been released into a dark room.

“Observation” sounds and feels like the evil / sexy computer is watching its prey / lover from a drone that rises and falls like a hawk drifting on warm wind. “Stretching / Invading” is about…well, I think you can guess. “Who Is in Control” can be taken in multiple ways. It’s the question in a BDSM relationship. On the surface, the computer in Ashley’s tale is in control, but what would it be without its lover? The computer needs the lover to achieve some kind of feeling. The second half of Cellulosed Bodies ends with “Subdue Yourself” – the only track with vocals (from dominatrix Miss Marilyn) – on a whispering aftercare note.

It’s a strange, lovely, sexy record, and one of the more intriguing releases of the year.

Keep your mind open.

NSFW!

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[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: The Serfs – Half Eaten By Dogs

In case you weren’t aware, Cincinnati has a growing underground synth scene, and The Serfs (Dakota Carlyle, Andie Luman, and Dylan McCartney) might be leading it if their new album, Half Eaten By Dogs, has anything to say about it.

Opening track “Order Imposing Sentence” has the band chanting / singing, “I can’t remember anything.” at one point as hot grease fire synths burn up everything around them. “Cheap Chrome” thumps with old racing video game beats. “Suspension Bridge Collapse” has echoing vocals that are difficult to decipher, but I think that’s the point, and the synths sound like they were pulled out of a burning garage and played while partially melted.

“Beat Me Down” has guitar rock riffs that simultaneously remind me of early Rolling Stones and The Go-Go’s. The haunting saxophone (by Eric Dietrich) on “Spectral Analysis” almost makes it sound like you’re listening to two different records (one goth-synth, the other 1980s Japanese city pop) at the same time.

“Club Deuce” is your new favorite goth dance club track, complete with frottage-inducing synth-bass and sexy vocals that practically light your clove cigarette for you. The harmonica on “Electric Like an Eel” is something The The might’ve done if they’d gone more industrial. I love the mix of electronic percussion and keyboards on this track, and the bass on it is a trippy hum.

“Ending of the Stream” brings The Velvet Underground and The Vacant Lots immediately to mind with its tribal drumming and vocals that sound like they’re sung by someone who just emerged from a sweat lodge. The bass riff on “The Dice Man Will Come” is as intriguing as the song’s title. Who is the Dice Man? I doubt it’s an Andrew “Dice” Clay reference. Or are The Serfs saying that mankind will become dice, being cast about for random purposes and producing random results? It’s probably something like that. It’s difficult to figure out while you’re mesmerized by the twitchy guitars and shimmering synths. The liner notes I received for this album described the closing track, “Mocking Laughter,” as sounding like “an end credits sequence.” I can’t put it better than that. It’s perfect. The synths, simple programmed beats, and echoing / fading vocals practically have The Serfs bowing as they walk backwards out of a room.

This is a solid record from beginning to end, and a welcome blast of coldwave perfect for the coming winter.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jaycee at Pitch Perfect PR.]