PODCAST: April 2022 Episode

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EPISODE NOTES & HIGHLIGHTS:

The episode, much like the last one, is book-ended by a pair of sets that share a common thread -- in this case, the artistic output of Rozz Williams, first with, then without, Christian Death. There is also a special set in the middle that continues to focus on music from and for Ukraine, as the Russian invasion continues to devastate its people. The rest of the show follows the traditional path of spotlighting new dark music releases, alongside specially curated selections from the vault.

 

We begin the episode with an overdue tribute to the 40th anniversary of Christian Death's first full length, Only Theatre of Pain. It was the album that created deathrock as we know it, and any band labeled as such, to this day, has taken influence from the sound first defined therein by Rozz Williams, Rikk Agnew, James McGearty, and George Belanger. To make this set more interesting, I sought out interview clips from those original members and used them to introduce two tracks from that record, "Cavity: First Communion," whose bells ushered in a musical era, and "Spiritual Cramp," which gave us some of Rozz's most enduring lyrics. You can find those full interviews here, here, and here, and since I was unable to track down any audio of McGearty, you can read a great retrospective piece from Decibel Magazine here, in which all three surviving members (and other cool guests) look back on the album that made them legends.

 

The first full regular set of the show begins with a new single from Detroit deathgaze duo Vazum, whose "Thief" sees the band landing what could be their defining sound, although the b-side remix is also an interesting take on the same piece. From there, we move to a debut from The Waning Moon, a satisfying new trad-goth rock band from Zac Campbell (The Kentucky Vampires), with vocals from Ariel Maniki (Ariel Maniki & the Black Halos). We then pause for a wistful 30th anniversary salute to The Cure's 1992 album, Wish, before visiting The Museum of Human Happiness, the latest new album from the ever prolific Legendary Pink Dots. Speaking of legends, the one and only Bauhaus return after that with their first new material since 2008: A polarizing experimental piece done in the "Exquisite Corpse" style over the Covid lockdown. I appreciate it, but if you prefer more traditional songs, catch the newly reunited band on tour this fall. Finally, in a related note, we close the set with music from Bauhaus bassist David J's new collection, What the Patrons Heard.

Set two turns our focus back to war-torn Ukraine, offering a new set of music from Ukrainian acts, alongside non-Ukrainian acts that have written or released songs in support of the Ukrainian people. After a debut instrumental from Kyiv's Blacklight District, we begin the set with a benefit single (and video) from Clan of Xymox entitled, "Save Our Souls," followed by a piece by Kyiv-based Ukrainian neo-classical act The House of the Hidden Light. After that, we hear from three Ukrainian artists that are featured on Sideline Magazine's new benefit compilation Electronic Resistance - A Darkwave/Post-Punk Compilation From The Ukrainian Underground: Zaporizhia post-punks The Last Passenger, the Kyiv-based dark folk act Pororoka, and the Odessa-based dark indie of Proizvodstvo Proizvola. The set closes with New York darkwave act A Cloud of Ravens' benefit cover of The Clash's anti-war anthem, "The Call Up," which plays into "Zero Landmine 2022," a new version of an anti-war song by composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who has turned it into a benefit for Ukraine as well.

Purchasing any of the above benefit releases will provide aid to Ukrainians as they beat back the Russian war machine, but for other ways to help, you can always follow or share this link.

Serving as both an additional benefit single and a handy palate cleanser, set three begins with Vision Video's beloved viral video sensation, now turned into a full studio recording, "I Love Cats." Not only that, but it's also a benefit single to help rescue animals from war-torn territories. You can catch the stand-up folks in VV on a newly-announced tour this summer, too. From there, we slide into the latest single from Astari Nite, who I just had the pleasure of seeing live at Dark Side of the Con, with the velvety dance hymn that is "Ashtray Ballet." Louisville's Scary Black have unleashed two cool new singles since my last episode, the first of which is up next, entitled "Tragedy." We then prepare our ears for Stoneburner, the newly-upgraded industrial machine from Ego Likeness' Steven Archer. The new single "Contracting Iris" offers not only the standard musical aspect, but also a full audio book of the material that served as the basis for the song. The song alone is also available on this free comp, used to promote their upcoming tour. Following that, we have a new single from Bestial Mouths, who are also about to set forth on a new tour, and some new ethereal doomscapes from England's Darkher to round out the set.

From doom to DOOM, we now enter the dark metal portion of the show, which begins with new music from Dutch neo-classical death/doom legends, Celestial Season, taken from their just-released Mysterium I. We then visit Sweden for new black metal from Lifvsleda's Sepulkral Dedikation, before jumping over to Finland for a taste of The Mist From the Mountains' new album Monumental: The Temple of Twilight. We then finish the set with two new singles from forthcoming Relapse Records releases: Temple of Void's Summoning the Slayer, and Devil Master's eagerly anticipated Ecstasies Of Never Ending Night. Don't miss their kvlt new video for "Acid Black Mass" here!

Finally, we close the show with my annual tribute to the memory and lasting  influence of Rozz Williams (11/6/63 - 4/1/98). Since the intro set covered his work with Christian Death, this closing set begins with music from Shadow Project, 'prematurely' marking the 30th anniversary (later this year) of their second album, Dreams for the Dying. We then move into what I've come to regard as Rozz's self-written epitaph, an edit I made years ago that married a section of his "Dec. 30, 1334" solo work, to one of the most beautiful songs ever made, Rozz Williams & Gitane Demone's 1995 recording of "Flowers". To fuse the three pieces here, I included more interview samples, the full versions of which can be found here and here. As always, rest in peace, Rozz.

 

All of that PLUS: New soundtrack work from "The Batman" and "Everything Everywhere All At Once"; Selections from the goth, deathrock, 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: April 27th, 2022

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

 

[Sample] Rikk Agnew interview by Eric Blair, 2019
Christian Death - Cavity: First Communion  [Only Theatre of Pain, 1982]
[Sample] Rozz Williams interview with Golgotha Magazine, 1996
[Sample] George Belanger interview with Golgotha, 1999
[Sample] Rikk Agnew interview by Eric Blair, 2019
Christian Death - Spiritual Cramp  [Only Theatre of Pain, 1982]
-
Son Lux – Somewhere Out There In All That Noise  [“Everything Everywhere All At Once” (soundtrack) 2022]
-
Vazum - Thief  [single, 2022]
The Waning Moon - Fall  [The Waning Moon, 2022]
The Cure -  From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea  [Wish, 1992]
Legendary Pink Dots – Cruel Brittania  [The Museum of Human Happiness, 2022]
Bauhaus - Drink the New Wine  [single, 2022]
David J - Scott Walker 1996  [What the Patrons Heard, 2022]
-
Blacklight District – Impaired Judgment  [Blacklight District II, 2022]
-
Clan of Xymox - Save Our Souls  [single for Ukraine, 2022]
The House of the Hidden Light – Frozen Manor  [La Porte de l'Enfer, 2021]
The Last Passenger - Тунельний робітник (Tunneler)  [Electronic Resistance - A Darkwave - Post-Punk Compilation From The Ukrainian Underground (comp.) 2022]
Pororoka - DYM  [Electronic Resistance - A Darkwave - Post-Punk Compilation From The Ukrainian Underground (comp.) 2022]
Proizvodstvo Proizvola - Планеты (Planets)  [Electronic Resistance - A Darkwave – Post-Punk Compilation From The Ukrainian Underground (comp.) 2022]
A Cloud of Ravens – The Call Up  [single for Ukraine, 2022]
-
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Zero Landmine 2022  [single for Ukraine, 2022]
-
Vision Video - I Love Cats  [single, 2022]
Astari Nite - Ashtray Ballet  [single, 2022]
Scary Black - Tragedy  [single, 2022]
Stoneburner – Contracting Iris  [Contracting Iris, 2022]
Bestial Mouths – I Am the Spell  [single, 2022]
Darkher - Love's Sudden Death  [The Buried Storm, 2022]
-
Michael Giacchino – Don’t Be Voyeur With Me  ["The Batman" (soundtrack) 2022]
-
Celestial Season – Black Water Mirrors  [Mysterium I, 2022]
Lifvsleda – Sändebudet  [Sepulkral Dedikation, 2022]
The Mist From the Mountains - Empyrean Fields  [Monumental: The Temple of Twilight, 2022]
Temple of Void – Deathtouch  [Summoning the Slayer, 2022]
Devil Master - Acid Black Mass  [Ecstasies Of Never Ending Night, 2022]
-
Jay Ferguson – Return to Unity / Therapy  [“Bad Dreams” (soundtrack) 1988]
-
Shadow Project - Lord of the Flies  [Dreams for the Dying, 1992]
[Sample] Rozz on the meaning of 1334 (Golgotha interview, 1996)
Rozz Williams - Dec. 30, 1334 (exc.)  [The Whorse’s Mouth, 1996]
[Sample] Rozz on Happiness and the afterlife (August 1994 interview)
Rozz Williams & Gitane Demone - Flowers  [Dream Home Heartache, 1995]
 

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