When Re:Mission Entertainment sent me an advance copy of A Perfect Error‘s Midnight Wire, I was intrigued by what I read in the press release. It touts of a record that bridges the gap between ‘cyberpunk to mainstream pop.’ And sure enough, it does exactly that.
This is the esoteric brainchild of Toronto’s Cory Gorski; his conscious effort to bring dark electronics under a digestible, radio-friendly umbrella. And these ten songs deliver everything you would expect to hear in an electronic pop song, even if – at times – it’s put together differently.
The best way I can describe these songs is to say they have a “layered minimalism” to them. By that I mean that the songs seem composed of simple electronic elements combined with even more simple electronic elements until something more complex evolves. The end results are songs that seem as though any single aspect of them would be interesting but combined are even more compelling.
It seems like there’s as much sonic exploration as there is songwriting on Midnight Wire. Clever elements interplay with one another and sometimes the exploration leads the listener down a rabbit hole of textures and soundscapes.
I recommend listening to the record in its entirety in one sitting. I don’t think any one song gives you a complete picture of the ground Midnight Wire covers. Just kick back and let this record take you where it may. But if you put a gun to my head, I’d say that Hold On, Hang Up stood out in my mind with it’s sexy-yet-creepy saxophone accompaniment. Midnight Wire‘s whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts.
Black Angel would have sounded right in place along side such powerhouse English alternative 80s acts as The Cult and The Sisters Of Mercy. Their sound even brings to mind acts from this side of the pond such as Screaming Trees and Mary My Hope. And that’s okay because this is album takes me back to the 80s in the GOOD way.
The Black Rose was released on April Fool’s Day but there’s nothing to laugh at on this record. These rhythm-oriented songs are nice and ballsy and incorporate the darker elements of bar rock. The gothic elements are there present. This record digs deeper to give you something that sounds like a backcountry balladeer set against a wall of guitar riffs. And the bass on songs like All Or Nothing conjure images of the tipsy dancer in the bar who refuses to sit down until her song on the jukebox ends.
Take Me Down is more solemn and the lyrics flow like an old singalong folk song. I caught myself singing along to the chorus. The lyrics on Look Me In The Eye carry the recurring theme throughout the album; as though addressed to a lady of dubious intention who’s done wrong, or maybe about to be done wrong. The same is true for the subsequent track, Sinner. Carnival Man opens with a dark organ and sits you down to tell the tale of a festive killer.
All in all, The Black Rose satisfies. This album works in a goth club, a biker bar, or on your car stereo.
In addition to the review Jaret had a chance to interview Matt of Black Angel š Please enjoy
Jaret : What inspired āThe Black Roseā?
Matt: Good question, there wasnāt anything specific, I just have to keep writing, as soon as I finish one album, I get right into the next one. With Black Angel I knew there would be a five album progression for sure and I had all the names of the albums mapped out years ago, so it just felt natural when I finished Prince of Darkness to start on The Black Rose. I always tell myself to give myself a breather for a few months but I can barely get past a few days.
Jaret: Who are your influences and what did you take away from those artists?
Matt: My influences are 100% Goth acts from the 80ās – to be specific, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Sisters of Mercy, The Cult, Bauhaus, Killing Joke, and The Damned, those are my keys influences, they wrote the best Gothic music – and in my eyes that has never been surpassed. Before I start writing I tend to listen to the these guys, in fact I just listen to their music all the time anyway, whether Iām writing or not – and each of them has something a little bit different – for example Billy Duffy from The Cult is my guitar hero, Peter Murphy is a vocal gymnast, Siouxsie has this fantastic intricate song writing ability, The Damned are just all out hundred percent top bollocks and energy and The Sisters of Mercy, especially on Floodland just encapsulated what Gothic Rock really was for me.
Billy Duffy (The Cult)
Jaret: Do you draw inspiration from sources outside of music, per se?
Matt: I guess lifeā¦. Most of my songs in someway are about relationships with people – and of course we are always learning, so there is always something new to write about on each new record. When I write itās always about personal relationships, I have no interest in politics or anything like that itās always about life experiences, and they say that is the best thing to write about, what do you have experienced yourself.
Jaret: Please describe a typical day in the studio. What is the chemistry like?
Matt: Thatās another good question, I found with my writing process that if I set time aside and I sit down and decide āthis is the time Iām going to writeā, I can pretty much guarantee that it is not gonna happen. I am in the fortunate position that I do have a studio on my property so whenever I feel the need I can get something down whether itās a vocal or a drum idea etc. I also carry around a digital recorder as thereās nothing more frustrating than losing that pearl of wisdom idea that you just came up with just because you couldnāt find a way to capture it. The whole process is fairly solo from the beginning, I normally write about 40 songs and then cull about 30 of those down to a good solid 10, hopefully by that point Iāve got a rough outline of how I want the record to sound if not I keep deleting and I keep writing. Itās not until the music is nearly 100% finished that I send tracks over to Corey for him to do his vocal magic.
Jaret: Whatās next for you? How are you forming/adapting your plans in the age of COVID
Matt:Covid isnāt an issue for us, since then and during that time, weāve managed to put two records out. We did think we were going to embark on a major record label deal in the near future but these things are always hugely complicated and there are a lot of ramifications to think about, so thatās not gonna happen for right now. We are still interested in getting our music out to a wider audience so we will still be seeking a publishing deal with a label somewhere. We would also like to play some festivals, itās tricky for us to tour right now as with our individual careers there are so many commitments that are difficult to get around – but! – we would like to play, and we are hoping that more people will invite us to do so. Itās defo on the cards and will happen for sure.
Jaret: What is your take on the current state of the dark music āsceneā?
Matt: The good thing is that people can easily create and release music, and that is amazing in itself. The other side of that is I do think the music industry, Gothic and Darkwave / Post-punk included, that maybe there is so much music out there – is that good or bad? Only you can decide. If we were to specifically look at Gothic music, well, when I got into it, that started over 30 years ago and everything had a certain sound and a certain flavor, the āgothā umbrella these days seems to have grown a little bit wider, but Iām certainly not a gatekeeper and things do change and develop. I would say that I was a fan of the whole process in the 80s where a band would be groomed and produced and the music that they put out is what we consider as the classic Gothic music of today – and frankly no one has even come close to surpassing that.
Jaret: Any final thoughts? (Impressions, opinions, funny thoughts, etc.)
Matt: I surely appreciate you reaching out for this interview and helping to keep the scene alive at Sounds and Shadows, I think this genre of music is really special and anything we can do to keep it going can only be a good thingā¦Black Angel will continue to do so for sureā¦ā¦
Imagine a band that encapsulates everything you love about music; a band that seems like an amalgam of almost every style that caught your ear as a kid when you heard it on the radio for the first time. After a VERY LONG spell of cynical indifference, my faith has been restored courtesy of VR SEX.
Rough Dimension is the band’s second full-length and fourth release overall and it shows no sign of the band slowing down from it’s barrage of cerebral ear-candy. These nine songs will take you down the dark seedy side streets of LA at night, but you may not be sure if you’re the prey or predator.
First of all, Rough Dimension is a rocker. Track one, Victim or Vixen, is evidence of that, followed by Glutton For Love, which really drives the point home. Rocking or not, the synths make strong showing on Glutton For Love and Snake Water. And some experimental noise cleverly sneaks its way in with Cyber Crimes.
Is it wrong that a punk song made a middle-aged cynic like me want to cry? Walk Of Fame, both in its lyrics and overall tone, just really grabbed me in a way that so few songs do. Not since Chris Reed of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry have I heard a droning baritone voice convey such emotion.
The guitar progressions throughout Rough Dimension have to be some of the most fresh and original I’ve heard in long time – especially in a genre that I was convinced was past its last gasp. Even the simpler ideas are well-conveyed due to good ol’ fashioned musicianship.
Even if I wasn’t already a fan of VR SEX and biased as Hell, I’d still put Rough Dimension among my top picks of 2022 so far. This would have been a fantastic full-length debut album; the fact that it’s their sophomore effort makes it even more impressive.
If I could describe Black Agent’s ‘Industrial Ruination’ with two words they would be, “HELL YEAH!!”; the beats, the cacophony, the lyrics, I could go on. In a world of Skinny Puppy soundalikes, Black Agent manage to carve out a unique sound within the industrial music world with songs that combine intelligent songcraft with solid production. By the time you get to ‘Dying Time’, the second track, you’ll know you’re in for a sonic treat. But the tone of this album isn’t all fun and games.
The album addresses subjects ranging from poverty to politics to police brutality to COVID to Jeffrey Epstein. However the lyrics on āFallenā seem to delve into the existential with such verses as:
Through the inside Pain then nothing more Flowers For the fallen Break the silence Donāt close the door
But what remains? What are we here for? What are the signs that you were ever here?
Parenthetically, Iāve been very impressed with the output from Re:Mission Entertainment, especially as of late, and this record is another feather in the cap for this noteworthy record label.
āFeedbackā is an instrumental that smacks of Front 242 with a grating distorted guitar hiding deep in the mix.
Things take a turn for the funky with āStrange Like Meā, a danceable jam with moments of lyrical existentialism of its own:
Are you a stranger Stranger than me Or are we just the same
Are you strange Strange like me Or are we playing a game
Track 9 is āMurdering Truthā (presumably the song about Jeffrey Epstein), a track with EBM-style arpeggios over a relaxed beat and comfortable tempo and the title to āEverythingās Wrongā tells you everything you need to know about the tone of the song.
āHindsightā is a strong closer, going all out with the creepiness and bombast to leave you feeling thoroughly pummelled.
All in all, these 13 songs are very satisfying musically with an appropriately gloomy outlook on life in the COVID years.
MOEV have been doing their thing since 1981, but for some reason they aren’t the household name you’d expect from a band that has been seminal in the electronic music scene. Members have come and gone over the years (including Sarah McLachlan and Nettwerk Records co-founder Mark Jowett – yes, THAT Nettwerk Records), but Tom Ferris has remained the bedrock of the band through all its twists and turns despite his involvement in other projects (Lazarazu, Econoline Crush). Theirs is a fascinating history that deserves more attention than I can write about in one short article.
After a hiatus following the death of vocalist Dean Russell in 1994, the band came back strong with Julie Ferris on lead vocals and the husband-and-wife team have been making, in my opinion, some of MOEV’s strongest material to date.
2022 gives us the new four-song Hold On EP and shows the band continuing to evolve and explore interesting musical ideas as rock elements interplay with a strong electronic foundation. Julie’s vocals have a siren-like quality to them and seem to employ elements from sources outside of Western music. Moscow Burnt To The Ground takes a relaxed approach, with a soothing vamp that drifts ambiently with a solid backbeat holding it down. Each Piece of Lebanon hits harder with crunchy guitars and a driving beat that’s ideal for dancing aggressively or driving at an excessive speed. Little Arrow‘s vocal delivery makes me think of later-era Bowie and the beats make this perhaps the most “fun” song on the EP, although each song brings something different to the table.
This EP holds up to repeated listening big time! As they say in showbiz, “Always leave them wanting more.” Hold On (ŃŃŠøŠ¼Š°Š¹ŃŃ) already has me eagerly anticipating MOEV’s next full-length effort.
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Earlier this week, Tom Ferris took time to answer some questions from his “spaceship”, presumably in orbit somewhere over Vancouver, BC.
Is āMoscow Burnt To The Groundā a statement about the current situation in Ukraine? You are damn right. Itās horrific.
What inspired āHold Onā? I was inspired by the fighting spirit of the Ukrainian people and their will to survive. They donāt want to go backwards and who can blame them? They have their own identity[.]
What is your musical priority these days? (MOEV? Lazarazu?)Is there a balance between them all? Only Moev now and forever. Lazarazu was a one off.
How would (or wouldnāt) you compare this incarnation of MOEV to incarnations of the band in years past? Simplified as its just Julie and myself. Plus the technology has caught up to the point where we can do everything ourselves. And less drama about songwriting allocation. For example on Crucify Me I wrote the music, Dean and Kelly (Cook) wrote the vocal part yet at the time we were pressured to split and hand out songwriting credit to people who didnāt deserve it. In Canada itās impossible to get publishing back as there is no time limit so everyone but the actual songwriter(s) benefit off your hard work forever.
Please walk us through a typical day in the studio. Whatās the chemistry like? I start mapping out an idea and when I think itās ready I hand it off to Julie. Sometimes her vocal part will change the direction of the music and we go from there.
How has COVID effected your musical plans these last two years?And what are your plans for the future? We were already an at home studio band so it didnāt affect us at all. We were built for a pandemic! We do get asked to play live sometimes but unless you are set up to tour itās not really worth it. Plus we have pets to feed.
Are you optimistic about the future? In the music business musicians are being paid less and less so there is no incentive to ever be associated with a record company. Kids have to do it for themselves and donāt give away your publishing! Itās horse & buggy logic. I am optimistic about technology and excited to see new innovation in music software and hardware thoughā¦
Any parting thoughts youād like to share? Buy new Moev so we can keep making music!
