Prog is a funny old thing. Lots of twiddly widdly. Lots of showing off. Long songs. Nice things like that. Punk came along and ruined it; turned music listeners into consumers of sweet saccarine junk with about as much artistic merit as a lump of tar.
What more can one say about Gong? French weirdos play odd music about gnomes, pixies and floaty things of all varieties. Heavily drug influenced. Far out.
In the 1970s, Andy Latimer and Pete Bardens got together in a studio and started releasing music under the name Camel, this is Camel’s first studio release.
I think it’s probably best that I warn you in advance. When I get to “G” there will be a whole load of compilation albums similar to this resulting from my search into gothic music. If you read regularly you’ll already know of that search.
Call on the Dark is a compilation album. No idea where I got it from but it’s more than likely I downloaded it because it has a track by Fields of the Nephilim. Anyway, the compilation consists of the following:
To a Loyal Friend – Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows
Nephilim aside, there’s nothing much to like about this compilation. I suppose I keep these kind of things just incase I find something I like but 8 years on, I still haven’t.
Thing is, I remember when Katie was flavour of the month. Her song was everywhere. So was her face. These days, despite six studio albums, it seems like you hardly hear a peep about her. Better not call off that search, she may have gone missing. Or perhaps someone saw sense and put her to good use as drainage for their patio.
I remember the first time I heard Rasputina. I was amused. Not because of their quirkiness but because their lead singer told a joke about sleeve lengths. Its things like that that can cause me to seek out an artists entire back catalogue. These days, as discussed elsewhere in this project, I’m a little more cautious. Read the rest of this entry »
My first and last time with you yeah? We had some fun. Went scrolling through the blogs yeah and they told you stuff. Oh I want to read some soon, but I wonder how, it was a new day yesterday, but it’s an old day now.
Ah Bauhaus; the goth’s version of the Beatles. Some argue that without Bauhaus, there would be no Goth. No Emo. No shoe gazing. Some argue that without Bauhaus, Bella Lugosi would still be alive. Some argue just for the sake of it.
When I first discovered Lycia, I was unaware that there was a member of the band whose solo work would be so influential to me in my later years. Bassist and keyboard player David Galas (who features quite a few times in this project), vocalist Tara Vanflower and guitarist Mike VanPortfleet gloom their way through just under 2 hours of haunting dark wave in this, the fifth album by the band.
Imagine being all postmillennial and second wave world music was doing the rounds. Imagine a time where you are embracing different cultures in a pre-911 world; searching out the next new sound from our global library.
If you know me well enough, you’ll know my most favourite instrument is the hurdy-gurdy. There’s something enchanting about the Hurdy-gurdy that adds that little sprinkling of the fae to any situation. Read the rest of this entry »
If you’ve never heard songs from this album, you’re either deaf or under 20. Dire Straits are the musical equivalent of CocaCola in that everyone on the planet has probably heard of them or at least one of their songs. Read the rest of this entry »
There’s something about New Order. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Sure, they’re miles ahead of their time, musically speaking. Yes, they’re as Northern as biscuits and their style oozes Manchester like a septic wound.
Very occasionally I’ll look at who’s playing what on a soundtrack for a film I like. Then I might look up information about that artist, download a couple of their tracks or albums and then see if I like them.
Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age – Broadcast & The Focus Group (#222)
This album is what this music project is about. This is a fine example of unusual music that seems to have passed the mainstream by without even a rumour. Giving the album a little kick into the throng in the hope that someone reading this will give them a try and maybe change their life. Read the rest of this entry »
People say that pop stars today have no regard for decency or the effect they’ll have on the youth. Similarly, people say that music these days is a load of shite. The same people say that songs today have too many sexual connotations and nothing in the way of political vitriol or appeasement of folk culture.
Midge Ure and chums get together again to boost their pension pots which have no doubt been drained dry through excessive hobnobbery and pop star lifestylishness. Unfortunately, after a 28 year hiatus it’s unlikely that your reunion will be headline news to anyone but serious fans, nor is it likely to attract new fans. Moreover, as the majority of original fans are now probably pushing 50 something, it’s even more unlikely that new audiences are going to surface for another 20 years or so. Read the rest of this entry »
In one of those odd little moments of synchronicity the day my beloved asked me to write about this it was mentioned in a book I was reading ‘the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ where a bridge by a West Country pub is credited with being the inspiration behind the name. This may not be true, but Paul Simon is well known for his affection for England (and his English girlfriend who couldn’t face life in the limelight).
T’Pau. Well there’s a band that disappeared up their own arse. Shropshire based pop rockers T’Pau (yeah yeah, Star Trek connotations) cobbled this album together and launched their career with it in the 1980’s. Read the rest of this entry »
This album takes me back to my father’s office, filled with his diving treasures, a fascinating roll- top desk my mother later worked at (with an old cheque book in pounds shillings and pence in the drawer) and his drawing table where he would draft out plans. Oh, and the hi-fi, a futuristic silver thing that played my favourites on a Saturday morning when I wasn’t listening to Junior Choice with Tony Blackburn and Arnold the dog (woof woof) on the radio.
Brachiale Gewalt appears to be some remixed compilation album of Rammstein songs that is hard to come by. I had a look on Amazon. They’re out of stock.
Anyway, Rammstein. After watching David Lynch’s Lost Highway in the 1990s and being so utterly blown away, I went to get the soundtrack. On the soundtrack are two songs by German metal band Rammstein. Two songs that blow my mind in the same way that Lost Highway does. Go David Lynch!
My first purchase of music over the internet was Rammstein’s Sehnsucht which should have cost me about £20 but ended up costing me £2000 when my credit card details were used by cyber criminals to run up a massive bill on porn and other such things. Of course this was in the days when the internet was in its infancy and banks tended to think you were at fault if your card details were pinched by cyber criminals. Cheers First Direct!
So, Brachiale Gewalt by Rammstein. If you’re not a fan, I’d not bother with this album. If you’re a fan, I’d not bother with this album. If you’re one of those people that have pictures and tattoos of the band all over your house and body then great. Go for it.
Boys and Girls comprises of the majority of the songs on the New Town video. The New Town video was a pivotal item of media in my youth. I watched agog at Bryan Ferry sleezing his way across the stage oozing sleeziness in nice shoes and a sweat drenched white shirt and thought….”Hey, if I wear white shirts, sweat a lot and look sleezy I’ll get all the girls gushing”.
Of course, I was wrong. Girls only gushed for grotty looking goth and rocker types. I was, as usual, ten years behind my peers in many respects and yet millennia ahead in others.
Boys and Girls is a nice break from the Roxy Music years for Ferry. I think it begins to establish him as a solo artist quite well in a distinct style and sound that he retired several years later to release bollocks music that basically saw him disappear into a cloud of self importance and political buffoonery.
See. See what trying to be cool does to people? Turns them into dickheads. Hipsters be warned.