In an episode dedicated to splitting the finest of hairs and analyzing the specific dance steps of angels on pinheads, we’re each picking five micro-genres for discussion. Do they exist? Are they distinct from neighbouring styles? What can be learn or take from them? We’re also discussing Metropolis Records’ recently announced charity initiative and corresponding compilation series
It's a pretty diverse two albums formatted episode this week; we're talking about the freeform, hip-hop and rock tinged EBM chaos of Scapa Flow's final LP Heads Off To Freedom and Marhseaux's big and direct 2013 electro-pop LP Inhale.
Hey, folks. As we talk about off the top, it's both the larger global news and a much more personal tragedy that we're both wrestling with this week. We're trying not to let that effect the podcast too much, but given the themes and mood of our subject, the first new album from The Cure in sixteen years, a little bit of real life pain is going to sneak its way in. Listening to music we love and talking about it with the people we love has always helped us both, and if us two goofballs talking about Bobby Smith & His Cures helps you with your day in any manner, we'd be humbled and overjoyed.
On this week's Halloween-themed episode of the podcast, we're simulating an experience that'll be familiar to all DJs: fielding requests at a Halloween party. What tracks from within and without the boundaries of Our Thing might we be happy to play? Which would be anathema to us? Which might we consider if you greased our palms or plied us with liquor? We're also discussing the passing of Winterkälte's Eric De Vries.
Keeping the momentum going from last week we're sticking with a decidedly industrial pair of records to discuss from Worms Of The Earth and C-Drone Defect. We've also got reactions to the just announced line-ups of next year's Cruel World and Dark Forces festivals.
The tar-black, mechanically thrashing blast of negativity and angst which is Red Lorry Yellow Lorry's debut LP is the subject of this week's commentary podcast. Talk About The Weather Distilled extant strains of post-punk and goth rock into one of the tightest and noisiest records of its generation, and we're looking at how it fits into the Lorries' own progression as well as the broader musical histories they drew upon and influenced in turn.
We have a slightly industrial metal themed two albums episode of the podcast for you this week, dear listener, as we chat a record needing no introduction in Killing Joke's Pandemonium and the rare modern industrial metal record which gets us excited about the genre again, Black Magnet's debut LP Hallucination Scene. We're also talking about a surprisingly great Sisters of Mercy live show and what can be gleaned from the latest Sick New World lineup.
The return of the Pick Five format has us telling on ourselves, revealing some of our own apathies, and possibly taking some contentious positions as we talk about records which we haven't got around to yet. We're also talking about Ministry reformation news, and a video essay about goth and race making the rounds.
After dalliances with the meaning of goth and post-punk royalty, we’re back to what brought us to the dance on this episode: obscure industrial releases scant few people are aware of. We’re talking about Jean-Luc De Meyer’s science fiction odysseys with 32Crash, and the strange path German collective Ars Moriendi took in linking classic industrial to powernoise. All that, plus some Cure (sorry, more post-punk royalty) and Pixel Grip talk.
This month's commentary podcast dives into the often overlooked mid-period work of synthpunk pioneers Portion Control. Having an outsized influence on countless EBM and industrial acts, the band's more melodic movements into "post-industrial" with plenty of dalliances with synthpop and post-punk are perfectly captured on ..Step Forward.
Having just seen Peter Hook & The Light, we’re spending this episode discussing not just Hooky’s presentation of the Joy Division and New Order catalogs, but also how our thoughts and feelings about those two bands have changed over the past thirty years. By equal measures we’ll be getting into the nitty gritty of JD/NO lore and ephemera, but also wrestling with what has and hasn’t changed about ourselves since we first came in contact with music which has never lost its gravitational pull upon us. We’re also talking about some possible Tear Garden news.
We like to mark every 25th episode of the podcast with some sort of special theme or format, and so on this episode we're taking up the hefty topic of to what degree goth is a subculture tied to music. Grab your snakebite and Aquanet and expect gatekeeping, gateletting, takes spicy and mild, and no small amount of cattiness. We're also talking about the passing of Roli Mossiman, the news of North American And One dates, and a Devours gig.
It’s a mixed format episode this week, with Alex giving a rundown of his trip to Edmonton for the Purple City Festival this past weekend, including the I Die: You Die showcase stage. Then, we’re switching gears to talk about the era of high technoid via Access To Arasaka’s 2009 LP Oppidan. All that, plus some horseshit about mainstream media’s annual fixation with "goth" fashion around Hallowe'en.
We’re back to the classic two albums format for the first time in a hot minute, with the grinding industrialized noise rock of Head Of David and The Horror’s first kick at the can as a spastic garage band in goth/scene garb on the table. We’re also indulging in a bit of wanton speculation about the Nine Inch Nails name being attached to the next Tron film.
Our least favourite records by some of our favourite artists is the subject of this week's Pick Five formatted episode of the podcast. Is it a real Sophie's Choice situation or are we eager to throw some underperforming records under the bus? Find out, along with some talk about the recent Ex-Heir show which passed though Vancouver.
The third and final of our Terminus interviews features longtime site fave Kontravoid. Cam spoke with us about new LP "Detachment", the shifting scope and success of the project, and the significance of masking up. Also, some news about ID:UD's presence at Purple City in Edmonton.
This month's Patreon-supported commentary podcast tackles the glammy-gothy new wave fusion of Edmonton's dearly departed Cygnets. Featuring captivating vocals, savvy synth work, and hooks, hooks, HOOKS, Isolator is representative of everything that made them one of the most captivating and underrated bands of their time.
Our post-Terminus afterglow continues with another interview recorded during the festival - we're joined by James and Jordan from Male Tears about new album Paradisco and how it weaves pop from decades past into current darkwave and goth aesthetics.
The first of our Terminus-related interviews is here, and with their new LP The Tower set to drop in just over a week, we're very happy to share our conversation with Urban Heat. Jonathan, Pax, and Kevin were very forthcoming with their thoughts on the influence that the heterogeneous music culture of Austin has had on them, the craft of building a live set, and what it's been like to be on the inside of one of dark music's biggest breakthrough acts of the past two years.
Our annual wrap-up of our favourite festival of the year is year, with night by night recaps of all four days of Terminus. Which hungry up and comers grabbed the proverbial brass ring? Which legacy acts fought like hell to retain their top billing spots? And which hotly hyped acts fell flat? Grab a pint of '88 Night Gallery and a plate of Street Eatery seitan chicken and find out...