…and you, have YOU protected your dreams from the Oneirophage? We think that if there was such a creature as GRIST seem to believe, then our favourite releases of the months, would provide the perfect soundtrack for its scary activities!
The music output of this month, as expected for the summer months was not the greatest in terms of quantity. Our favourite releases, helped us make a mind-numbing sonic journey while news about devastating wildfires and exhausting heat around the planet reached our ears and eyes. The latest offering by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds ‘Wild God’, was soul-arresting, with slow rhythms and powerful soul and gospel elements infusing its ten rock ballads. Chrystabell and David Lynch‘s dreamy album ‘Cellophane Memories’ is offering some much needed lightness into our sonic landscape of the month, with ethereal songs that make one feel like floating on air. Speaking of lightness, we were particularly happy listening to Demi-Nuit‘s post-punk, 80s coldwave-infused, synthwave EP ‘Fille de Moujik’. Always punctual on her appointment with us during the summer, Chelsea Wolfe has treated us to one more beautiful disquieting ethereal EP ‘Undone’ full with great remixes by Boy Harsher, Ash Koosha, Full of Hell, Crosses and Justin K. Broadrick.
A special mention is due to the debut releases of the month, by Dallas Kent and Shadow Knell. ‘Ghost Highway‘ the debut single by Dallas Kent, is inspired by the best moments of dreamy trip hop both in terms of rhythms and visuals. ‘Shadow Knell‘ the debut album by Shadow Knell, is “…a mystical, mournful, and doom-laced synth fantasy that echoes from dungeons deep and forests eternal” and merges modern classical lyricism with the rhythmic existentialism of dark ambient music.
We hope you enjoy listening to this playlist, as much as we did preparing it!
July might have been much quieter than usual, but it was not a dull month in any way. The soundtrack of the month included the release of a very promising debut single by Virgin Vampires who are warming us up for their first album that sounds as if it will be following a darkwave path. The new offering by Peace De Resistance was refreshing with its combination of socially perceptive lyrics and a glam rock attitude. The new album by The March Violets is a classic gothic rock album that should be heard on the dancefloor of any dark alternative club.
Finally the new psych-rock release by Black Market Karma is inspired by the characteristics of analogue recording equipment with the aim of making the album “…feel like a collection of discarded and worse for wear instruments came to life, refurbished themselves and started to play. The sound is an attempt to give form to the often formless feeling that is nostalgia. With songs attempting to crystallise a feeling known as ‘fernweh’. A kind of longing for a place and time you’ve never experienced, be it in this world or another.” as Stanley Belton explained.
We think that this short and sweet playlist will be a great accompaniment to a very warm evening during the hours of the sunset and we hope that you enjoy it as much as we did while preparing it!
The month after Wave Gotik Treffen is always one that perceives music under the prism of the festival. Our favourite albums and releases of June 2024 helped us make a trip into a mysterious landscape, still full of the darkness of the colder months. Our soundtrack of the month forms an IDM, post punk, dreamy, hazy and neoclassical path full with twists and turns and a lot of sonic texture.
We were delighted for the return of Camerata Mediolanense (which we had the pleasure of interviewing) with their album ‘Atalanta Fugiens‘ inspired by an enigmatic book written around 1617 by Michael Maier. The album fits well within the band’s discography and has subjects that place it in the heart of modern discourse around change and transformation at many levels. The return of The Revolutionary Army of The Infant Jesus with their new album ‘The Dream We Carry‘ after four years was both unexpected and truly exciting!
We were also pumped by the new album of Bleib Modern, a post-punk/darkwave band whose career we have followed since its beginning. Their self-titled album is the best of their career so far and you will probably find that you will enjoy it from start to finish without any interruptions. Talking about an album that one can listen on repeat from start to finish, I am sure that those out there who appreciate dystopian punk, deathrock and krautrock will agree with us for featuring Allarme‘s self-titled album in this soundtrack. The addition of a ‘dancing’ saxophone adds an air of dystopian cabaret atmosphere to the whole experience too.
WHOLE‘s ‘Hydra‘ and ‘Mesmerism‘ by Lucid Dreams, were two special releases for different reasons. The former because unlike most of Blackjack Illuminist Records releases, this one explores more prominent punk paths and creates a hybrid result where darkwave and post-punk give way to rather vindictive punk. Lucid Dreams on the other hand, combine a very evocative/dystopian cover with a free jazz/idm/experimental sonic environment, which manages to transfer the listener to an environment where excitement for decay and imminent danger prevails!
A special mention is due to the return of Anathema’s Vincent Cavanagh with a new project called The Radicant. We read that the name of the project relates to the word “radicant” which describes organisms that create their roots gradually as they advance, allowing species to mobilise, adapt and grow on any surface. The name also relates to the way Vincent perceives his journey into music and composition and his experiments with creating compositions for visual art/tech. The Radicant release their debut single in June and we expect the full length album in the following months.
Finally, we cannot express our happiness after the announcement of an upcoming release by Chrystabell and David Lynch – offering to us their captivating dreamy, ethereal wickedness that has enveloped David Lynch’s films in the past – a disquieting aura that is hard to ignore. The first single from this release is entitled ‘Sublime Eternal Love‘.
We hope you enjoy listening to our playlist as much as we enjoyed creating it!