PODCAST: December 2023 Episode

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EPISODE NOTES & HIGHLIGHTS:

Welcome to that strange little character that is the final show of the year, the December episode of "Out ov the Coffin." Although mostly a "regular" episode, featuring a whole lot of new releases, along with some classic and anniversary selections from the vault, this episode also features a holiday set in the middle, and some closing seasonal selections at the end. Before you run scared, these will be holiday songs from artists associated with goth and dark music, at least -- but if you really want to avoid that vibe entirely, just skip the second full set (Tip: It's 22 minutes long), and all you will hear are some winter-themed selections that are scattered throughout the show.  

 

The show begins with a second taste of the forthcoming Twin Tribes album Pendulum. "Cauldron of Thorns" offers a more moody atmosphere and a new aspect of the duo's sound, while still remaining darkwave-danceable, which -- when paired with their previous single "Monolith" -- makes a promising teaser for the full release that's coming in early 2024.

The first full set dives right into a stack of new releases for this month, starting with the welcome return of Italian deathrock/post-punk act Horror Vacui, with the a-side of their new self-titled 7-inch, which also teases a forthcoming 2024 album. From there, we begin to explore the latest bounty of offerings from Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows, who techincally issued three new releases this fall, all themed around a dark board game (which actually exists!), that calls forth '80s Halloween Horror elements -- and, basically, I think I'm going to need all of this. From there, we visit Athens, GA for the latest single (and video) from Tears for the Dying, before flying all the way to Ukraine for some new post-punk from Delirium. We then reach into the coldest part of the December vaults for a classic mood from Lycia, then hold on to some of that feeling with a brand new entry from San Francisco's Octavian Winters. Finally, we close the first full set with new music from DC's Amulet, who have really planted an earworm in me with their new single, "When Winter Comes." I chose the William Faith remix, but stay tuned for the original, soon...

Set two brings us into Holiday Mode, beginning with a nod to my father, in the form of a very Twin Peaks-esque version of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, rendered by none other than Duke Ellington. A bit of a novelty, you say? Well, it sets us up for several more novelties to come. First, a double-shot of Venture Bros. Holiday Songs! The first is this year's just-released "Merry Xmas Everybody," but I follow that with the one I missed from last year, the perfectly-timed "Peril of the Bells," which they no-doubt chose to mark its centennial in 2022. See last year's December show for my own coverage of that anniversary, if you like. Moving on, we hear The Crüxshadows' 2023 Holiday song (the title of which I totally biffed in the talk break, sorry). It's a traditional-style, Celtic-sounding, actual Christmas song this time, which you can grab as donation ware here, along with Rogue's many other holiday singles.

Since Christmas time always brings about thoughts of Twin Peaks (again, see last December's episode), I couldn't resist digging up what is perhaps the kitschiest legitimate offering made in the wake of the show's success, the semi-official Twin Peaks version of the "12 Days of Christmas" -- which really happened, as a result of some DJs at KROQ back in 1990, who assembled cast members Kyle MacLachlan (Cooper), Jack Nance (Pete), Frank Silva (Bob), Kimmy Robertson (Lucy) , and Dana Ashbrook (Bobby) to record one of the weirdest versions of a song that is no stranger to weird versions. How to follow that? "Dead by X-Mas" of corpse! The classic 1982 Hanoi Rocks single that I will never stop playing this time of year. And, in closing the set, a nod to the 40th anniversary of The Cure's singles collection, Japanese Whispers, in the form of the Christmas-referencing pajama-jam, "Let's Go To Bed."

Back to the regular music for set three, we focus on darkwave and synth-based music this time, beginning right here in Nashville with a new single from the up-and-coming General Trust! We then watch Sacred Skin reveal the oddity that is a (admittedly bangin') cover of Ricky Gervais' obscure '80s new wave band, Seona Dancing, followed by a new remix of Wingtips' "Innocent Blood," as transformed by their good friends in Twin Tribes. A 'Coffin debut from Baltimore act Vacant Windows comes in next, sure to scratch that lost-'80s-single itch for many, followed by another debut, this time from French act Divine Shade , which appeals to the more aggressive side of the style. Finally, book-ending this set with another Nashville act, the set closes with a stark, almost Pornographic (in the Cure sense) piece from Trance//Furnace artist, Spectral Body.

Set four brings balance to force, so to speak, with a counter to the holiday set, in the form of an atmospheric black metal set, beginning with new music from Canada's Miserere Luminis. A 30th anniversary salute to the highly-influential early career of Sweden's Katatonia comes next, with a selection from their first full length, 1993's appropriately titled Dance of December Souls. We then hear the first single from Isenordal's forthcoming Requiem for Eirênê, before plunging deeper into the unlit woods for a taste of The Nighthold from Finland's Vargrav. Finally, closing out the dark metal portion on a serious note, we hear the track "Spiritual Warfare" from UK act Dawn Treader, taken from Forest Summoner Records' "Free Palestine" Compilation, which gathers a long list of dark metal acts to benefit, and raise awareness of, the plight of the Palestinian people, who are so quickly being massacred throughout Gaza as we speak.

In closing the show, I chose two traditional dark holiday selections: First, Victorian Chamber Metal artists Valentine Wolfe's new rendition of the Ukrainian Christmas classic "Shchedryk" (aka Carol of the Bells), followed by my traditional ending for the December episode, a nice dark story time -- brought to you, once again, by The Legendary Pink Dots, who have faithfully issued The Legendary Pink Dots’ Christmas Special 2023, so that we may rest in its atmosphere.

All of that PLUS:  Two new dark ambient / experimental Ukrainian releases to complete this month's trident: The story-telling atmospheres of Inshysvit's Eidetic 1, and the Kyiv-based Erythroleukoplakia Records release of Death Allure's Misery is a Form of Treat; The 50th anniversary of The Exorcist (just i tie for Xmas?); Selections from the Holiday Horror vault; 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
  December 2023 Episode
  Show recorded December 22nd-23rd, 2023

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

Twin Tribes - Cauldron of Thorns  [Pendulum, 2024]

-

Inshysvit - Eidetic 1.4  [Eidetic 1, 2023]
-

Horror Vacui - Distressed  [S/T, 2023]

Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows - Come and Play With Us  [Alone at Sam’s, An Evening With…, 2023]

Tears for the Dying - We Are the Darkness  [single, 2023]

Delirium - Місто (“Misto” / City) (feat. 77PID’YIZD)  [single, 2023]

Lycia - December  [Cold, 1996]

Octavian Winters - Nebula  [The Line or Curve, 2023]

Amulet - When Winter Comes (A Hole Inside My Heart Mix by William Faith)  [When Winter Comes (single) 2023]

-

Duke Ellington - Sugar Rum Cherry (Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy)  [The Nutcracker Suite, 1960]

-

Christopher St. residents (Colonel Gentleman, The Action Man, Rose, Billy Quizboy, & Pete White) - Merry Xmas Everybody [Venture Bros. Holiday single 2023]

The Monarch, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, Henchman 21 - Peril of the Bells [Venture Bros. Holiday single 2022]

The Crüxshadows - The Winter Rose  [single, 2023]

Twin Peaks Cast (Kyle MacLachlan, Jack Nance, Frank Silva, Kimmy Robertson, and Dana Ashbrook) - 12 Days of Christmas [single done for KROQ, 1990]

Hanoi Rocks - Dead By Xmas  [Self-Destruction Blues, 1982]

The Cure - Let’s Go To Bed  [Japanese Whispers, 1983]

-

Gershon Kingsley - Suite II (exc.)  ["Silent Night, Bloody Night" (soundtrack) 1972]

-

General Trust - If I Could Change Your Mind  [If I Could Change Your Mind / If I Could Read Your Mind, 2023] [N]

Sacred Skin - Bitter Heart (Seona Dancing cover)  [single, 2023]

Wingtips - Innocent Blood (Twin Tribes remix)  [Remixes, 2023]

Vacant Windows - Real Life  [single, 2023]

Divine Shade - Heaven  [single, 2023]

Spectral Body - Grey Dawn  [Demonstration 23, 2023] [N]

-

Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells  ["The Exorcist" (soundtrack) 1973

-

Miserere Luminis - Noir Fauve  [Ordalie, 2023]

Katatonia - Gates of Bereavement  [Dance of December Souls, 1993]

Isenordal - Epiphanies of Abhorrence and Futility  [Requiem for Eirênê, 2024]

Vargrav - Chalice of Silver and Blood  [The Nighthold, 2023]

Dawn Treader - Spiritual Warfare  [“Free Palestine - Comp I” (comp.) 2023]

-

Death Allure - Love is Poison  [Misery is a Form of Treat, 2023]

-

Valentine Wolfe - Shchedryk  [Specter in the Frost, 2023]

The Legendary Pink Dots -  Golden Redeemer  [The Legendary Pink Dots’ Christmas Special 2023]

[N] = Nashville artist!

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