The Goth Blog

Announcement

Due to recent inactivity on this blog I have decided to re-tool the concept and how I approach music/Mp3 blogging. All music-related fun and games will be moved to my newly re-designed DJ page here. The new site will feature Mp3 entries, music news, interviews, rants as well as my most recent club and radio playlists. So check it out! I have moved all my links to the new site already. Thanks to everyone for reading and I hope to see you around the new place.

-Jason

Vanishing Kids - Shadow of a Doubt Mp3

Vanishing Kids

Band Bio:
Tidal waves of distortion, feedback, and delay, colliding into crashing drums and thunderous bass lines -Vanishing Kids are a force to be experienced. Intricate to dreamy guitars, dancey synth hooks and interweaving male/female voices can also describe their unique sound . VK is influenced by 80's new wave, 90's shoegaze, post punk, metal, dance, new age, and goth music. Thematically vanishing kids comes from the idea of fleeting youth and painting your own picture. - Vanishing Kids Website

Reviews:
"Who isn't happy that the Vanishing Kids have brought back '80s-style goth... People who hate everything and people who hate when things come back in style, that's who. But they don't have to come to this fantastic free show, now do they?" - The Portland Mercury

"I'd never listened to the Vanishing Kids before. As soon as the first song started, you could not focus on anything but the band and the music. Described 'new-wavey, bass driven indie rock', Vanishing Kids did an incredible job. Vanishing Kids reminded me of rolling waves that crashed upon rocky cliffs. Quite conducive music for daydreaming, the music kind of prompts you to close your eyes and let your imagination take hold." - TechNews

"The Vanishing Kids have once again broken ground, inching toward their eventual domination of the world! Back with their Martin Atkins-produced second full-length (first for Failed Experiment Records) is Madison, Wisconsin's own VK. The Selfish Mirror is as polished and produced as the Kids have ever been, but it does not do any harm to their metal meets new wave meets synth-driven post punk." - Counter Culture Vintage Store

My Two Cents:
Haven't posted in a while. Been busy with the end of the school year. But I'm glad I could come back on such a strong band. Vanishing Kids are a great hybrid of dark and emotional musical styles without being lifeless copy. A synthy/shoegazey/gothy treat.

Further Reading:
Check out their label Failed Experiment Records

Revue Noir - A Girl A Smoke Mp3

Revue Noir

Band Bio:
If you like your dark cabaret with a sprinkling of Nico and Marlene Dietrich, then let Revue Noir fill your black heart with joy. Revue Noir's sound can best be described as "Weimar-Republic-era Expressionism," an apt coinage for songs capturing the essence of an era when the world was crumbling and all one could do was lose one self in beauty and debauchery. Embodying the decadence and sorrow that filled the nights of pre-WWII Europe is stunning frontwoman, Nicki Jaine. - Revue Noir Website

Reviews:
"The new band has a dark cabaret sound and is sure to intrigue current fans of black tape and Nicki Jaine." - Outsight Communications

"it's Jaine’s vocal and lyrical ability to delve into her deepest emotions, during her jet-black musings, that make the CD so appealing." - Chorus and Verse

"Her rich, deep voice suggesting mezzo and contralto territories fits excellently her dark topics on this album that lends true artistry to the gothic style." - Ink19

My Two Cents:
Back in August I profiled Nicki Jaine and said nice things about her. Then in November I said nice things about Sam Rosenthal's band Black Tape For A Blue Girl. So the fact that the two have joined forced to create a new dark cabaret project is worth plugging I think. A class act all the way.

Further Reading:
Check out Revue Noir's Myspace page. You can also listen to some sound clips on their website.

Daemonia Nymphe (feat. Louisa John Krol) - Weddingone Mp3

Daemonia Nymphe

Band Bio:
The greek band 'Daemonia Nymphe' tries to recreate the sound of Greek Antiquity. Musicians use incredible instruments like lyra, varvitos, krotala, pandoura... made by the legendary Greek instrument maker Nicholas Bras…These ancient songs are sung by balkanik choirs and bewitching female voices. - Daemonia Nymphe Website

Reviews:
"Daemonia Nymphe means 'goddess nymph' and this album is an invocation to beauty, past times and mythology, celebrated in nine balanced and entrancing tracks of male and female vocals, chants, spoken word and recreated ancient instrumentation." - FluxEuropa

"Daemonia Nymphe is a great candidate for those seeking sacred music to accompany or compliment ritual or other sacred practices. The instrumentation is crisp and emotionally provocative and the lyricism is magical and romantic as it reflects upon myth and tradition." - Heathen Harvest

"As a Medievalist I remember reading how the group RED IRIS used to study 13th and 14th century art, examining how musicians were holding their instruments, the number of strings on each item, and then tried to imagine the tuning that they would use.DAEMONIA NYMPHE are embarking on a similar mission, trying to use music to evoke the spirit of the Past." - Cursor Mundi

My Two Cents:
I always lament the fact that living in America I am often the last to hear about great bands from all over the world doing interesting things with music. I was lucky to stumble across this band while doing research on a different band. Reconstructions of ancient Greek music, chants, choruses and rebuilt insturments add an air of authenticity to this project. A treasure.

Further Reading:
You can download more tracks here. You can read interviews with the band here and here.

Seventh Harmonic - De Terra Fons Exoritur Mp3

Seventh Harmonic

Band Bio:
'Seventh Harmonic' are a project creating symphonic, atmospheric dreamscapes, drawing on many influences from Celtic through Eastern, ambient, tribal, and trip-hop. The music blends an intoxicating mix of soaring violin and angelic vocals, with classical piano undertones, receiving interest from film production companies and drawing comparisons to the likes of 'Dead Can Dance'. - Seventh Harmonic Website

Reviews:
"They usually get referred to as being 'ethereal', dreamy', 'romantic'. OK fair descriptors, but the point seems to have been missed. However other worldly Seventh Harmonic appear to be, they possess a precision and structure to their work which impresses." - Cursor Mundi

"[Seventh Harmonic] distil a mysterious and strange overwhelming liquor into their experimental musical still, liquor made of various ingredients : * a sprinkle of neoclassical tunes * a pinch of ethnic sounds * from celtic to arabic (or hinduist ones) * some drops of intimate acoustic guitars, strenghtened by melancholic violin * some electronic loops flirting with trip-hop and ritualistic atmospheres, remembering Hagalaz Runedance's pagan horizons. This sensual and emotional liquor distilled into our veins creates a strange veil of serenity and anxiety at the same time. It may be caused by the ingenious work made on the vocals : most of the time ethereal, but also with gregorian chorus, frightening whispers and tibetan prayers." - Gothic.gr

"Seventh Harmonic are a rare thing: a genuine, home-grown, UK-based neo-classical, ethereal band. For years, the general consensus on the UK scene was that 'ethereal bollocks' just wouldn't work. The UK just wouldn't wear it - we all wanted to mosh. With a magnificent disregard of the UK goth-scene consensus, Seventh Harmonic simply went ahead and did their ethereal thing. And, to everyone's surprise (including, I suspect, the band themselves) they've notched up quite a fair bit of success. Perhaps this is because the band have such a distinct character - it's ethereal, but it's ethereal with attitude. If it's possible for a neo-classical band to rock, Seventh Harmonic do just that." - Starvox

My Two Cents:
If Dead Can Dance had taken a slightly different path after their first album you could have envisioned something along the lines of Seventh Harmonic. Where DCD delved deeper and deeper into world music on subsequent releases, Seventh Harmonic clings to their dark 4AD-influenced ethereal past. The result is a dark world-fusion, Gary Numan working with a Greek chorus and Bulgarian harpist.

Further Reading:
You can download more tracks here. Massive interview with the band here. Yet another interview here.

Peter Ulrich - Through These Eyes Mp3

Peter Ulrich

Band Bio:
Peter Ulrich is the former drummer/percussionist of Dead Can Dance and a past contributor to 4AD's This Mortal Coil. Unsurprisingly, his work is very strong rhythmically, demonstrating an array of ethnic and early music influences. Superimposed onto this backdrop now come Ulrich's own haunting melodies, poetic lyrics and vocal style. His music recalls "Dead" but has an an exotic flavor of its own, blending seamlessly an array of musical genres: darkwave, dream-pop, ancient and medieval, new age, world and ethnic-- into a lush tapestry. - Peter Ulrich Website

Reviews:
"Even in my limited knowledge of non-rock formats, I can sense there is influence from several different continents on this record, much the same way Peter Gabriel would seamlessly blend exotic flavorings. Ulrich is able to create stirring tracks such as "Evocation" to pensive moody pieces like the album opener "Taqaharu's Leaving". The fact that he is able to weave a variety of moods and styles throughout greatly improves its overall listenability. Fans of Dead Can Dance need to immediately rush out to buy this record and fans of Peter Gabriel or any other of exotic music should take a chance on this as well." - SSMT Reviews

"a soundscape, both dreamlike and etheral, and at the same time vivid, alive with the sounds of yesterday... a true and honest journey through something long forgotten. these are not only great compliments to the vast catalog of works produced, and written by Dead Can Dance, but mighty pieces of composition in their own right. the Dulcimer on "Flesh To Flame" brings to mind many of the works of DCD, but is something all your own within these songs. the guitar arrangement in "through Those Eyes" tugs at the heart, awakening a desire for what once was, at the same time, anticipation for what is to come..." - Fraqtured Sound

"The album is a rather somber but strangely inviting musical exercise that incorporates lavish strings, meticulous 12-string guitar playing, soothing drums, intricate percussion and Ulrich's deadpan voice." - Armchair DJ

My Two Cents:
I love Dead Can Dance, and as a result I really like most DCD spin-off material. Ulrich evokes a direction DCD could have taken if they explored pop structures and world music in a more accessible manner. But don't think this is some sort of sell-out, this stuff is well-made and should please most fans of Dead Can Dance or world music for that matter.

Further Reading:
You can download two more tracks here. Here is his new label's page for him.

Amber Asylum - The Black Swan Mp3

Amber Asylum

Band Bio:
...a filmic fusion of modern classical and post-rock, where arias and art songs meet in a pale field of electronic disturbance. Equally at home in the opera house or the smoky, raucous din of an underground nightclub, AmberAsylum plumbs the crevass between noise and beauty. Lyrical, confessional, dark yet aspirant, their electric strings, vocals, and spare percussion billow like furious mists across your consciousness. Dark as it is beautiful, spare as it is complex, its supernaturally decadent powers will overtake you in the remote reaches of your imagination. There's no escaping the Asylum. And no reason you'd want to. - Amber Asylum Website

Reviews:
"Like listening to Curved Air on sedatives, Amber Asylum is a sad and at times depressing listen. There are few artists I have heard over the past few years whose music is truly stark, mysterious, and ghostly. Amber Asylum truly fits those adjectives...so absolutely slow and peculiar that at times it sounds like a ghost singing alone in a forest at midnight. That may be what Kris Force is striving for, but it is impossible to tell. Dark, hypnotic, odd, and distant, this music is absolutely creepy." - Babysue

"The band makes a sort of dark chamber music. Cello, violins and piano are dominant ingredients in their musical cocktails, aided by keyboards, guitar, clarinet. The album is almost instrumental, with only a few sparse voices. Filled with waltzes and suites, this album brings some nice dark ambient/classical music. Not all songs are equally accessible, especially as the album progresses, with some dissonant tones and experimental structures at times. There is also quite some passion and melodrama underneath the classical hymns. But overall this gloomy melancholic album is pleasant to listen to on a Sunday afternoon. I just love the sound of strings and piano!" - Funprox.com

"Amber Asylum is quite a departure from most Release Records artists. Instead of focusing on noise or other experimental techniques for their musical composition, they instead use all natural instrumentation and vocal tonality. As a result the music has a very classical and almost gothic nature to it while remaining free from all digital music influence. This has allowed Amber Asylum to exhibit the strength of their vocal depth and raw musical talent instead of relying on technology to do all of the work for them. The closest comparison that I can come up with for the sound that Amber Asylum exudes is a sort of mixture of post-Jarboe Swans and the Cranes with a little Rasputina thrown in for good measure. Amber Asylum should definitely appeal to the old school gothic audience as well as anyone who appreciates a classical vocal trio." - Sonic Boom

My Two Cents:
Isn't it time you got around to Amber Asylum? Hey I understand that their older material was a bit too much like "experimental" music, but in the last five years or so they have adapted their unique sound to more traditional pop arrangements. Heck they even covered Tori Amos! Imagine Rasputina's older weirder sister who liked to listen to Einsturzende Neubauten and Brian Eno. They are recording some new material now, so don't be caught sleeping.

Further Reading:
You can read an interview here and here. Listen to more tracks at their MySpace.com page.