Thursday, February 22, 2018

PODCAST: February 2018 Episode

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EPISODE NOTES & HIGHLIGHTS: 

Following last month's "Best ov..." special, this episode is a return to the "normal" format of the show, featuring a slate of brand new releases, deeper cuts into current albums, a bit of catching up on releases that slipped into last year's cracks, and, of corpse, some selections from the vaults.

We begin with a deeper cut from Chelsea Wolfe's latest, Hiss Spun, which sees her continuing to gravitate towards the heavier end of the musical spectrum, while still retaining her delicate ethereal vocal magic over the top. That slides nicely into Petr Hapka's Czech New Wave soundtrack work from the 1978 film, "Panna a Netvor" (Beauty and the Beast). As I mention in the break, director Juraj Herz was also responsible for the beautiful "Morgiana," which shared a composer with the film "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders," about which I've gushed many times.

The first full set begins with more live-in-studio recordings from last year's 
Hansa Studios Session, from the ever-prolific ROME -- who have already released a new full-length, to be featured on next month's show. After picking up a forgotten recent gem from O. Children, I finally go out on an interesting limb with new(ish) music from Atlanta's Algiers, whose unique sound merges classic soul with post-punk, adding tinges of industrialized hip-hop beats and '60s gospel/protest music. It may throw a few listeners for a loop, but it's a worthwhile loop to ride.

After that, we get another taste of 
Ritual Howls' western-goth-noir from their latest EP, Their Body, before visiting the vaults for some late '90s hard goth, courtesy of Germany's Dreadful Shadows (who would later morph into the more accessible Zeraphine). Fellow Germans Xmal Deutschland (who grace the flyer for the March 3rd edition of Fascination Street here in Nashville), close the set with a classic from their self-released 1987 album, Viva.

The second set kicks off with Virginia's Shadow Age, giving you one more reason to track down their latest EP, The Fall. Next, we get a taste of two forthcoming releases from Occult Whispers Records, first some bleak Minneapolis post-punk/goth from Temple's self-titled EP, then the thankfully-resurrected US deathrock band Altar de Fey. Their new 'cassingle' is but a teaser for a much-anticipated full length album coming later this year, so watch out for that on a future episode. We then dip back into 1987 for a cult classic from Mighty Sphincter, before picking up a song from the sadly overlooked Acid Tongue EP from Canada's Blood Bitch. Finally, new UK post-punks Luxury round out the set with a short but peppy track from their new single, Primrose Path.

The third set slides towards the darkwave/electronic/synth zone, kicking off with brand new music from The Soft Moon's new Criminal LP, followed closely by new music from one of the most productive men in the US, Andy Deane. This time, we get a whole new album from his synthwave project The Rain Within, which really shouldn't be thought of as a side project, given how much activity we've seen under that flag as of late. You can bask in Atomic Eyes right here.

Keeping you on the dance floor next (with your shades on, no doubt), is 
Sally Dige's Holding On, which should satisfy those yearnings for a fog-lit nightclub take on the current 'wave revival. Italian Darkwave veterans The Frozen Autumn arrive next, with a Xymox-soaked track from their latest, The Fellow Traveler. Germany's Sixth June make their 'Coffin debut after that, from their 2017 release Virgo Rising, followed by a set-closing obscurity from 1999's darkwave/goth scene, The Winter Chapter

We enter the dark metal portion of the show with the goth-leaning new Down Below album from Sweden's Tribulation -- which has proven to be great driving music, by the way. Dipping down to Chile, we follow that with new post/black metal from Lascar's Saudade album, followed by a 2016 demo track from Finland's Celestial Grave (recently issued as a compilation CD, coupled with their 2017 Pvtrefactio 7-inch). And, just in case things weren't black enough for you yet, we close with something from the golden era of the second wave of black metal, the opening track from Abigor's unstoppable 1995 classic, Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom).

Having recently re-watched the movie trilogy, I decided to close this month's episode in Middle Earth, starting with a selection from Howard Shore's 
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" soundtrack during the last talk break, the show exits stage left with a song from the brand new Summoning album, With Doom We Come. As with all of the band's work, it is well done and absolutely soaked in LOTR atmosphere. I still maintain that their music should have been used somewhere in the film trilogy, but nobody asked me. 

All of that PLUS: New would-be soundtrack music from Lisa Cuthbert's Hextapes; More actual-soundtrack work from "Get Out" and "Stranger Things 2"; Selections from the deathrock, goth, and soundtrack vaults; and more!


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PLAYLIST BEGINS HERE

Format: Band Name - Song Title [Album Title, Year]
(each band name is also a website link)
(sets and talk breaks separated by dashes)



"Out ov the Coffin" w/ Ichabod
  Show recorded on: February 22nd, 2018

Opening Theme:
Elliot Goldenthal - Libera Me [from "Interview with the Vampire" (soundtrack), 1994]

Chelsea Wolfe - Particle Flux  [Hiss Spun, 2017]
-
Petr Hapka - TitulnÌ varhany ["Panna a netvor" (aka "Beauty and the Beast") (soundtrack) 1978]
-
ROME - A Legacy of Unrest (live)  [Hansa Studios Session, 2017]
O. Children - Malo  [O. Children, 2010]
Algiers - Death March  [The Underside of Power, 2017]
Ritual Howls - Blood Red Moon  [Their Body, 2017]
Dreadful Shadows - The Figures of Disguise  [Beyond the Maze, 1998]
Xmal Deutschland - Polarlicht  [Viva, 1987]
-
Michael Abels - The Auction/Hypnosis  ["Get Out" (soundtrack) 2017]
-
Shadow Age - Bliss  [The Fall, 2017]
Temple - Patricide  [Temple, 2018]
Altar de Fey - Hope Dies Last  [Hope Dies Last/The Secret (single), 2018]
Mighty Sphincter - Secret Ceremony  [In the Kingdom of Heaven, 1987]
Blood Bitch - Total Hysteria  [Acid Tongue, 2015]
Luxury - Primrose Path  [Primrose Path/Sinclair, 2018]
-
Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - Soldiers  ["Stranger Things 2" (score) 2017]
-
The Soft Moon - Burn  [Criminal, 2018]
The Rain Within - Rain  [Atomic Eyes, 2018]
Sally Dige - Holding On  [Holding On, 2017]
The Frozen Autumn - Your Touch  [The Fellow Traveler, 2017]
Sixth June - Call Me  [Virgo Rising, 2017]
The Winter Chapter - New Emotion  [Time of Faith, 1999]
-
Lisa Cuthbert - Will  [Hextapes, 2017]
-
Tribulation - The World  [Down Below, 2018]
Lascar - Thin Air  [Saudade, 2017]
Celestial Grave - The Bearer of Death  [Burial Ground Trance, 2016]
Abigor - Unleashed Axe-Age  [Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom), 1995]
-
Howard Shore - The Forbidden Pool  ["The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (soundtrack) 2002]
-
Summoning - Silvertine  [With Doom We Come, 2018]



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