Tag: Duran Duran

Sounds and Shadows September 2022 Darkscene Singles Chart

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This was an amazing month for new music heading into October the most goth month of the year. In September we had our highest vote count yet. All the songs below were Sept 2022 singles released in the broad “Darkscene” genre and voted on by the S & S collection of Djs, Artists, Promotors, Reviewers, and Superfans. A LOT of BANGERS here. Please take a listen, find something you enjoy, and support artists on Bandcamp. If you have a single releasing in Oct, or know someone who does, add it to the voting poll. Also it was a lovely feeling that the majority of the artists in the chart have done an interview with us.

  1. Leathers – Ultraviolet – Artoffact Records
  2. Caustic x Grabyourface – Not Your Body
  3. A Cloud Of Ravens – The Blackest Mantra – Nexilis Records
  4. Exa X – Control – Distortion Productions
  5. Fatigue – Saudade (The Way Of Love)
  6. Ashes Fallen – A New Normal
  7. The Burying Kind – Coming Through
  8. Mark E Moon – Dark Love – Cold Transmission Music
  9. Curse Mackey – Smoking Tongues – Negative Gain Records
  10. Cyborg Amok – Wicked Close
  11. Junksista – Death By Heartache – COP International
Shannon being so Daddy I dropped my gum

LEATHERS – Ultraviolet – Brand new single from the Canadian synth extravaganza that is the project of Actors members and currently on tour with them. I love how if this was ever a “side project” it has evolved into a distinct powerhouse of twilight all on it’s own. There is a reason it was a definitive #1 in our most voted on chart to date. Force of nature single you need.

▶︎ Ultraviolet | LEATHERS (bandcamp.com)

Caustic x Grabyourface – Not Your Body – This team up of Matt Fanale and Marie has evolved into an amazing partnership that just keeps rolling out hits. This one dropped at a perfect moment when a womans right to choose is under attack and this song hits back hard.

Not Your Body | Caustic x Grabyourface | Caustic (bandcamp.com)

A Cloud of Ravens – The Blackest Mantra – I am so excited for the Brookland duo and all they have coming up. Jason Corbett of Actors mastered this at Jacknife Studios. The opening drums have this amazing old school Cult pulse and the guitar is a burning laser. Absolute banger of a single.

▶︎ The Blackest Mantra | A Cloud of Ravens (bandcamp.com)

Eva X – Control – Another Canadian talent back in our chart again with digital assault pop. I really like the rubber bounce of this single and Gaby’s light touch on the delivery for the vocals. I also love seeing the top four are all bands we have interviewed 🙂

Control | Eva X (bandcamp.com)

Fatigue – Saudade (The Way Of Love) – MA based Dj/Electronica artist with this fierce electronic builder that shimmers on the wire of a harp string. I love the breathy delivery on the vocals. What an infectious dance club banger. There is a breakdown around 2:50 that is pure artwork.

▶︎ Saudade (The Way Of Love) | Fatigue (bandcamp.com)

 Ashes Fallen – New Normal – Usually when I am discussing Sacramento CA goth rockers Ashes Fallen it usually comes back to the guitars. On this new single it is all about the 16 wheel concrete crushing drive of the bass. Tight corners and overdrive to give you a thrill ride gripping the leather of the seats.

New Normal | Ashes Fallen (bandcamp.com)

The Burying Kind – Coming Through – I will never tire of this story. A goth singer ( A Covenant of Thorns) and a Industrial drummer (The Joy Thieves) making gorgeous, romantic, spinning tapestry dreamgaze. This whole album is so deep with romance, anguish, beauty, and devotion. This one hits special.

Coming Through (maxi single) | The Burying Kind (bandcamp.com)

Mark E Moon – Dark Love – From the Isle of Man off Cold Transmission Music a new single and definite new feel from Mark Sayle and crew. This single has a very 90s rebirth Duran Duran sensuality. Shelly Rourke vocal addition really adds another layer that is giving me goosebumps. Adding in Crying Vessel’s Slade Templeton is another shape on the powerful horizon. 10/10 banger.

▶︎ Dark Love | Mark E Moon (bandcamp.com)

Curse Mackey – Smoking Tongues – The Industrial legend from Texas returns for his sophomore solo offering. This single is a soulful narrative response to a world that wants art to become easier and easier to swallow. Even with slow dance singles Curse is showing trust in the intelligence of his audience to demand more.

▶︎ Smoking Tongues | Curse Mackey (bandcamp.com)

Cyborg Amok – Wicked Close – New Jersey father/son prog goth duo with this dystopian sci fi single. I love the concept and the dramatic cape twirling creep surrounding the crunching Industrial guitars.

Wicked Close | Cyborg Amok (bandcamp.com)

JUNKSISTA – Death By Heartache – Ok I am going to do a special mention here because we had a tie that came down to the decibel for the first time so I am adding the German dark pop siren on COP International to the 11 spot. Junksista is a talent I have never given their due in terms of listening time. I am always impressed with the perfect craft sound jewel shaping and dangerous delivery. This is a moment that I have experienced too often where I say “I need to listen to a lot more Junksista.

▶︎ Death By Heartache | JUNKSISTA (bandcamp.com)

Review pf Glass Apple Bonzai : The All​-​Nite Starlite Electronic Café

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Band: Glass Apple Bonzai

Album: The All-Nite Starlite Electronic Cafe’

Label: Artoffact Records

So my first introduction to Glass Apple Bonzai was through this collaboration and I immediately fell in love. This song is beautiful, deep, and textured in a way that pays respect to the past. Yet was fresh and original. I had to apologize to Daniel. This album came out in 2019 and somehow just slipped through my fingers. So I started listening tonight and Holy shit, this is up there with the best Synthwave albums I heard in 2019. It’s passionate, it’s powerful, it’s crafted by a master of Synthesizer architecture. The idea of Synthwave music is such a carefully formulated construction of building blocks in perfect precision that even to a rookie it is so easy to hear when something is out of place. On this record nothing is ever out of place even for a moment. Daniel is an artist who uses every sound, every effect, every word to razor wire effect.

Sometimes in 2020 it is easy to get caught up in the fact that artists are creating music on the shoulders of artists 20-30 ect years gone. That we have this pressure to re-invent the wheel and say that we are doing something fresh that isn’t effected by the things we loved in the 80’s that came before us. I think one of the most entrancing aspects of this record is the unapologetic way it embraces it’s homage to the past while finding it’s own voice. The concepts, sounds, even vocal patterns pull heavily from 80’s pop music. Yet the concepts here are fresh. The vocals and lyrics are heartfelt. The technology allows for new possibilities. It’s like Daniel traveled to the past, had modern tech not available to musicians then, then wrote about life in 2019 within that framework. It’s not easy to pull this off and Daniel is a craft person who pulled together a difficult idea.

Favorite Tracks:

Radio: Gorgeous synth magnificence straight out of a John Hughes movie. It’s expansive, it’s beautiful, and it burrows into your head with lovely pop hooks. I can’t never get enough of this track.

Stormy Weather: I love the sensitive power of this track. It has a wonderful lyrical poetry. It builds and uses harmony like a synth itself. This was 80’s Duran Duran at it’s best and yet a song I never heard and wanted to.

The Fire (Of Giant Red Stars) – I love the change up here. The beats are off kilter and the background takes a dark tone in spite of the bright music. This song has wonderful layers. Reminds me of Pet Shop Boys in the hurtful intensity of the lyrics against the bright synths and dance beat.

Overall I can’t believe I never dived into this album in 2019. It should have been on my top 2019 list but I am making up for lost time. Find this record and play it often.