PODCAST: Summer 2023, Pt. I Episode

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EPISODE NOTES & HIGHLIGHTS:

Welcome to the "Summer 2023, Pt. I" episode, as I have chosen to call it -- an extended mix that encapsulates the material originally intended for June, plus a good bit of additional content for this sweltering July. Many recent events have caused production delays, both good and bad, but let's start with the good, shall we? A bit of travel allowed me to see my favorite band of all time once again, The Cure, when they played in Atlanta in late June, and the Nashville-based Goth night that I named after one of their best songs, Fascination Street, celebrated its 10th Anniversary earlier this month, both of which were wholly positive experiences, by which I am glad to have been occupied.

On the bad side, the US goth scene suffered a death in the family earlier this month. Longtime Bella Morte guitarist, core-member, and songwriter Tony Lechmanski died -- young and suddenly, at least to the many fans who did not know he'd been ill. If you were any part of the US goth scene from the early 2000s until now, there's little chance you didn't see, hear, and/or love Bella Morte at some point, road dogs and hilarious people that they were. In a way, I feel like I grew up with them, something akin to classmates, taking a lot of the same twists and turns on our musical journeys. I booked them in Nashville numerous times as a promoter, worked with them at Dragon Con for years (if you can call being that silly "working"), and saw them many other times as a friend and a fan. Tony, the scrappiest of all scrappy little punks to ever flip the proverbial tables of the oft-stiff goth scene, never failed to leave you laughing, burned to the ground by his sharp tongue, or both. I'm going to miss his early wit and his late wisdom. May he rest in peace.

Tony Lechmanski, 1981-2023 (RIP)

To honor Tony's memory, this episode begins with my favorite song from what I can only assume will stand as the final Bella Morte album, "One Bright Soul in this Emptiness" from 2017's Year of the Ghost. But I couldn't let just one song sum up the man's contributions, so there's a whole set coming up later in the show as well.

From there, the spotlight lands on the upcoming Dark Castle Fest. Slated for July 28th and 29th at the Art Sanctuary in Louisville, KY, the fest features over a dozen Goth and Darkwave acts from the south/eastern US, including all of the bands in the first full set of this episode! We start with the brand new single from Louisville's own Scary Black, before diving into two acts brought forth by the ever-productive KY-native Zac Campbell: The Waning Moon, in which he collaborates with Ariel Maniki, and The Kentucky Vampires, the band which started his journey into Goth Rock. Texas newcomers In a Darkened Room are next, with one track deeper into their 2023 album, Sorrows, followed by the (late) 'Coffin debut of New Orleans ethereal goth act The Palace of Tears. Last, but certainly not least, one of my current favorite acts, who will be headlining Saturday night's bill, Florida's Astari Nite, with their beloved recent single "Ashtray Ballet." I'm really looking forward to seeing all of these bands, but also to DJing, as I will now be one of a handful of regional DJs at this event, too! See the full line-up or grab some tickets at darkcastlefest.com.

 

Dark Castle Fest 2023 line-up // darkcastlefest.com

Set two begins with ROME's new single, "Yellow and Blue," and its unwavering and explicit support for Ukraine in the ongoing battle to stop Russia's invasion. Carrying on from this somewhat neo-folk beginning, the set continues the acoustic sounds with a double-shot of lesser-played Bauhaus, in honor of the 40th anniversary of Burning from the Inside.  We then hear the first single from the forthcoming new Drab Majesty album, the low-key, somewhat Floyd-ian piece, "Vanity," which features Rachel Goswell of Slowdive. Reaching back to last year, I finally include the collaborative single "Cry, Cry, Cry" from FM Attack feat. Vandal Moon, before reaching into the vaults for a '90s goth obscurity from Still Patient? Finally, in honor of an excellent show, tour, and year for The Cure, I close the set with a live version of "Fascination Street," which also serves as a nice way to mark my own night's 10th anniversary this month, right? Right.

 

Speaking of FS, the next edition of Fascination Street (August 12th) will feature a live performance from Florida deathrockers Obsidian, so I kick off set three with the title track from their 2020 EP Vultures. From there, I round back to scoop up one of 2022's best overlooked deathrock releases, the self-titled LP from Germany's Cataphiles, before sliding in a second serving from Ritual Howls' new album, Virtue Falters. We then make a slight turn into darkwave territory for a deep cut from the new A Cloud of Ravens album, Lost Hymns, followed by a debut from Danish darkwave act St. Digue. And, managing to be the only band that could name a song "Fuck Boy" and have it be a banger, we get a taste of the new Soft Kill album, Metta World Peace.

Set 4 is a bonus set that fulfills the promise of a longer tribute to the memory and musicianship of Bella Morte's Tony Lechmanski. For this set, the music does the reminiscing, so I chose four more tracks that showcase Tony's skill with guitar leads and hanging melodies, while also being some of the songs that move me most, emotionally. All of this is a testament, of course, to the songwriting team of Lechmanski and vocalist Andy Deane, whose ability to incorporate styles from the zeitgeist throughout their years together is roughly mapped out in this episode. I have a lot of nostalgia attached to Bella Morte's music, so I could have kept going for far longer, but I'll let this stand, and just add that I am incredibly glad to have seen the band one last time in 2022. I'll close this chapter with the last picture I took with the two of them, outside of their final Nashville show in 2017: 

(L-R Andy, Ichabod, Tony)

Although I plan to pay greater and more fitting tribute to actor Julian Sands on this year's Halloween Special, I wanted to include at least a brief remembrance in this episode, in the form of some soundtrack work from his 1987 film, "Gothic." I had the pleasure of meeting and working with him one year at Dragon Con as well, but that photo has never surfaced. Suffice it to say that he was a very nice and respectful person. Rest in peace, sir.

Julian Sands, 1958-2023 (RIP)

Set 5 eases into the dark metal portion of the show, starting with the more ethereal, clean-voiced doom of a Canadian band called Headless Nameless -- from their Ominus Spiritus album that I thought I'd covered since its release in 2021, but alas. It was time to fix that error. From there, a 25th anniversary nod to Anathema's Alternative 4 album, which spawned on of my favorite singles, "Empty." A deceptively calm piano intro leads us right into the best of Ukrainian Black Metal with a new track from SVRM's ...а смерть ввійшла у тебе вже давно (...and death entered you a long time ago). We then hand out one more 25th anniversary nod, this time to Enslaved's Blodhemn album, before checking out something from the new album by Brazil's The Kryptik. Rather than run full speed to the end on this set, we close with something far more subdued, a song from Italian act Bosco Sacro's new Gem album. 

After some quick notes and some more dark ambient from Ukraine's Stratim, the show concludes with the opening track from Mournful Congregation's crushing new funereal doom EP, The Exuviae of Gods – Part II.

All of that PLUS: Great praise for the new dark fantasy film "Moon Garden," as well as a taste of its forthcoming soundtrack via Heliochrysum, the dark ambient project of composer Michael Deragon; More fresh Ukrainian dark ambient from Shadowsun; A 50th anniversary nod the cult horror classic "Crypt of the Living Dead"; Selections from the goth and dark ambient 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 July 19th-20th, 2023

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

Bella Morte - One Bright Soul in This Emptiness  [Year of the Ghost, 2017]
-
Heliochrysum - Forbidden Structures  [We Become Mist, 2021]
-
Scary Black - Unlove  [single, 2023]
The Waning Moon - The Burning Woods  [The Waning Moon EP, 2022]
The Kentucky Vampires - Holy Heretic  [Crimson Curse, 2020]
In a Darkened Room - Doom and Gloom  [Sorrows, 2023]
The Palace of Tears - Thy Womb Full of Black Nectar  [Ruination, 2020]
Astari Nite - Ashtray Ballet  [single, 2022]
-
Shadowsun - Unbreathable Air  [The Pit, 2023]
-
ROME - Yellow and Blue (single edit) [Yellow and Blue EP, 2023]
Bauhaus - Kingdom’s Coming / Who Killed Mr. Moonlight  [Burning from the Inside, 1983]
Drab Majesty - Vanity (feat Rachel Goswell)  [An Object in Motion, 2023]
FM Attack feat. Vandal Moon - Cry Cry Cry  [single, 2022]
Still Patient? - Ellum  [Chameleon, 1996]
The Cure - Fascination Street (live)  [Anniversary 1978-2018: Live in Hyde Park London, 2019]
-
Phillip Lambro - untitled [“Crypt of the Living Dead (aka Hannah, Queen of the Vampires)” (soundtrack) 1973]
-
Obsidian - Vultures  [Vultures, 2020]
Cataphiles - Feeling Empty  [Cataphiles, 2022]
Ritual Howls - Humiliation  [Virtue Falters, 2023]
A Cloud of Ravens - Old Ghosts  [Lost Hymns, 2023]
St. Digue - Shadow  [Toxic Kiss, 2023]
Soft Kill - Fuck Boy  [Metta World Peace, 2023]
-
Arcana - Void of Silence  [Cantar de Procella, 1997]
 -
Bella Morte - The End Ahead  [Bleed the Grey Sky Black, 2006]
Bella Morte - Fades Like a Song  [Beautiful Death, 2008]
Bella Morte - Reflections  [Exorcisms, 2014]
Bella Morte - Exorcisms  [Exorcisms, 2014]
-
Thomas Dolby - Fantasmagoria  [“Gothic” (soundtrack) 1987] RIP Julian Sands
-
Headless Nameless - Ash Palace  [Ominus Spiritus, 2021]
Anathema - Empty  [Alternative 4, 1998]
SVRM - II  [... а смерть ввійшла у тебе вже давно (...and death entered you a long time ago), 2023]
Enslaved - In Chains Until Ragnarok  [Blodhemn, 1998] 25th anniversary
The Kryptik - Unhallowed  [A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom, 2023]
Bosco Sacro - Be Dust  [Gem, 2023]
-
Stratim - Night Orchestra (exc.)  [Unbearable Delirium, 2023]
-
Mournful Congregation - Heads Bowed  [The Exuviae of Gods – Part II, 2023]
 

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