


It’s this time of year that Leipzig has already started ‘calling’ the pilgrimage for Wave Gotik Treffen that this year will take place from 2-5 June 2017. The bands that have already been confirmed show that this year we will be divided between gothic rock, apocalyptic folk, industrial and IDM dilemmas. It does not seem that a lot of metal music bands will be participating this year (it is still a bit too early to draw that conclusion though). A very pleasant surprise to see that The Mission who haven’t played at the WGT since 2002 will be returning this year, Cabaret Voltaire and Skinny Puppy will prepare exclusive shows for all of us , Mlada Fronta who have not played at WGT since 2000 will be making a special appearance this year and Corde Oblique, following their amazing show at Schauspielhaus in 2012, will also be part of the festival this year.We were delighted to see that Rotting Christ, a favourite dark/gothic metal band from Greece with a really unique sound, will return to the festival this year after their previous show in 2014.We will dare to wish that Diamanda Galas will be included in the programme as well, especially because she will be on a European tour around the time of the festival.We shall see…
As we are waiting for the official programme to be announced here is what we know so far from the official websites of some of the 115 confirmed (so far) bands that will participate in Wave Gotik Treffen of 2017! If you haven’t decided yet Here is the list of the confirmed bands: http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/english/bands.php
Friday 2.06.17
Saturday 3.06.17
Sunday 4.06.17
Monday 5.06.17
…5 stories about bridging punk, theatre and a radio show
I am sure that if you have ever tuned in to Resonance FM on a Friday evening and you are not new to radio shows (or Resonance’s shows for that matter) you will know that BAD PUNK is not your typical broadcast. I have personally never come across a show where the time between the songs is equally important as the songs themselves. It is a logic similar to that of those painters who are equally interested in the colored area of the canvas as well as the space around them and the ‘dialogue’ between them. Every Friday night at 10pm the Band of Holy Joy, offer an hour where music is interjected by spoken word.It can either be a word, a verse or just a poetic way of presenting a song. The music that follows, enhances or stretches further the meaning of the words that precede it or is in direct contrast to them. In the end, you will probably conclude that all this does not matter, because the purpose is for us to be immersed to the atmosphere that Johny Brown is creating, so that after the show we can channel this energy into something else.
2017 is an exciting year for the Band of Holy Joy. First of all the band will release the EP ‘Brutalism Begins At Home’ this Friday January 27th 2017 through Tiny Global Productions. It’s hard to argue against what the title of this EP is implying and given the band’s strong social reflexes it is expected that all the songs will be musically as well as conceptually very appealing. The EP has been produced by Brian O’Shaunghessy founder of the iconic Bark Studio in North London who has also worked with many artists including My Bloody Valentine and Primal Scream. The mastering of this EP is courtesy of Stuart Moxham (ex. Young Marble Giants). The first track from this EP entitled “Come Home To Me“ is already available through the official bandcamp page of the band and the full length album will be released in July. In between those dates, we are pretty sure that we will have the opportunity to see them perform part of this album, live in London.
Evil Blizzard or as they like to present themselves ‘four bass players and a singing drummer’, is one of the craziest,creepiest bands that one can see live these days. With a fascination for the uncanny,the macabre and all the facets of weirdness, the deathrock/punk Evil Blizzard,always offer theatrical and unconventional shows,not to mention that sometimes they even offer their own ‘Blizzard beer’!
The lyrics of the songs,full with cynicism,humour and provocation will leave you wonder for days about their meaning while their shows feel like a ride with a horror train!
The band has already released three full length
studio albums (two of them through Louder Than War and one through Rocket Recordings) which only tell half the story about them. The last of these albums, entitled ‘Everybody Come To Church’ was released in 2015. Evil Blizzard have opened for Public Image Limited and Killing Joke among others and they also mention early krautrock,Hawkind and Embrace as their influences. Having already watched a few videos from their live shows we can’t wait to experience their show first hand.
The support bands for the show will be The Fierce&The Dead and Taman Shud(who seem to take their name from a mysterious unresolved crime that happened in Australia in the late 1940s).
There’s only one advice…do not expect anything ordinary from this show and do not miss it!
So, 2017 has rolled up its ‘sleeves’ and has been running wild on the music front. We are only 14 days in 2017 and we have had more than a dozen debut album releases and many more upcoming ones!
Below you will read a few words about the first releases that caught Blauerosen’s attention so far.
The big news for us is the release of a new 12” EP entitled ‘Reflection’ by Geneviève Pasquier on January 22, 2017. We haven’t heard from this favourite musician of ours for a few years now and we were delighted to read that she is due to release new work soon! In addition to that, members from Cinema Strange, Blink 182 and Lost Tribe, have formed a new project called The
Wraith and their first EP entitled ‘Shadow Flag EP‘ will be released on January 17, 2017. The two already released tracks so far, reveal a more traditional punk sound (as opposed to the deathrock sound of Cinema Strange) with heavy guitars nonetheless and vocal styles that are mostly encountered in metal bands. Taking into account the work of all three bands, this project is expected to be much more than the sum of its parts.We can’t be more impatient for this release!