UK goth rock band, Sirens Of Light have just unveiled their latest release; the full length LP, Nullus Margis Gothica MMXXI.

Resurrected from the recently discovered, dusty multi-track master recordings Nullus Margis Gothica MMXXI was originally conceived as a concept album dealing with three main themes; the power of the feminine, belief systems and how the individual constructs their reality around these concepts.

Putting these ideas against a dark, moody and theatrical musical soundscape seemed a natural progression. The album was designed to be listened to from beginning to end to take the listener on an emotional journey through the record rather than a set of unrelated songs....hence the release of an album and not an endless procession of singles

The inspiration for the songs is varied. "Justine", "Maria", "Siren Of Light" and "Succubus' Requiem" are explorations of the feminine, it's power and influence. "Flames Of Kane" looks at organized religion and it's inherent violence. "Rearrange" and "The Prayer" deal with the loneliness of the human condition.

Nullus Margis Gothica MMXXI is a dark, emotional, thought provoking, sometimes bleak, sometimes macabre but always intense journey for the listener.

Available on limited edition CD and digital formats via Bandcamp. The album will be distributed globally beginning on 20th January via Code 7 Music.

www.facebook.com/search/top?q=sirens%20of%20light

Hardcore darkwave band, Neon Funeral recently unveiled their latest single & video, "A Void".

The song deals with escaping a life of drugs and societal pressures; avoiding it but not wanting to talk about it. It's about someone being tortured by their addictions and demons. The instrumentals emit an overall sound that is darker and a range that is more dynamic than on previous releases. They just flow in the direction of the layered guitars that take over during the fadeout.

The video concept was one that finds the band's front man, Randy, waking up while experiencing hallucinations of a dark cult-like figure. He joins a strange cult doing strange rituals while initiating other members unwillingly. The video opens questions of societal pressures and about not being able to escape one's mind and the darker paths of life.

The fire pit represents passion and a rebirth of his life. At the end you see all the people wearing masks in a row essentially giving into the cult like Randy gives in to his fear. But they gain strength through the darkness at the end, particularly in the last scene when Randy grabs the light bulb to essentially say that he darkens his own light.

So the themes of the song and video are fear, spirituality, rebirth, strength and passion.

Neon Funeral Live Dates:

1.6.23 Richmond, VA @ Fallout

1.7.23 Washington DC @ The Runaway

1.8.23 Philadelphia, PA @ Century

www.facebook.com/neonfuneralband

Today it’s been 43 years since Joy Division’s second Peel Session was broadcasted for the first time by John Peel on BBC radio (December 10th, 1979).

All tracks, previously unreleased at that time, were recorded in the London BBC studios on November 26th, 1979.

The EP of this recording was released in 1986 by Strange Fruit records and spent seventeen weeks in the UK Indie Chart, peaking at number 3!

Joy Division - The Peel Sessions (II)
A1. Love Will Tear Us Apart 3:20
A2. 24 Hours 4:05
B1. Colony 4:08
B2. Sound of Music 4:20

DISCOGS

This December, 43 ago, Throbing Gristle released the album 20 Jazz Funk Greats. It was released in December 1979 by the band's own label Industrial Records. It is regarded as the band's best work, with music magazines naming it the best album of the 1970s, and the best industrial album of all time.

Actually it is the band's first real full studio album, as prior albums contained both live and studio recordings. The album was recorded on a 16-track tape recorder borrowed from Paul McCartney after Peter Christopherson had worked on some artwork for McCartney.

The album was produced meanly using effects units and instruments from Roland and Boss.

The album's cover photograph was taken at Beachy Head, a chalk headland on the South coast of England known as one of the world's most notorious suicide spots.

In a 2012 interview, Cosey explained the album cover and tongue-in-cheek title:

“We did the cover so it was a pastiche of something you would find in a Woolworth’s bargain bin. We took the photograph at the most famous suicide spot in England, called Beachy Head. So, the picture is not what it seems, it is not so nicey nicey at all, and neither is the music once you take it home and buy it. We had this idea in mind that someone quite innocently would come along to a record store and see [the record] and think they would be getting 20 really good jazz/funk greats, and then they would put it on at home and they would just get decimated.”

The 1981 issue of the album released on Fetish Records featured an alternate version of the cover art in which an apparently dead and naked male body is seen lying in front of the band. In 2013, Radiohead graphic designer Stanley Donwood selected the artwork as his favorite album cover.

20 Jazz Funk Greats

All tracks were written by Throbbing Gristle:

• Genesis P-Orridge – vocals, bass guitar, violin, vibraphone, synthesizer
• Cosey Fanni Tutti – guitar, synthesizer, cornet, vocals
• Chris Carter – synthesizer, album sequencing, drum programming, vocals
• Peter Christopherson – tape, vibraphone, cornet, vocals

DISCOGS

Public Image: First Issue is the debut studio album of Public Image Ltd, formed and fronted by Jonny Rotten aka John Lydon after he left the Sex Pistols in January 1978. First Issue was released by record label Virgin on December 8th the same year and it is still considered as one of the pioneering records of post-punk.

It entered the UK Albums Chart, where it stayed for 11 weeks and reached #22 on 23 December 1978. The single “Public Image” entered the UK Top 75, where it stayed for 8 weeks and reached #9 on 21 October 1978

In 1979, a court in Malta had stopped selling the album because the lyrics of “Religion” offended public morals and decency.

After hearing the test pressings Warner Bros records also decided not to publish the album in the United States because the sound of the record was considered as too uncommercial for an American release. PiL were asked to re-record parts of the album and although the band recorded new versions of some tracks the album was never released in the US. Only in 1980 Warners released the song “Public Image” on the compilation album “Troublemakers”, the only album track released in the US until the 2013 release of the entire album.

On 18 June 2013, the album was finally officially released in the US via Light in the Attic Records.

Upon its release, Public Image: First Issue received only 2 out of 5 stars review in Sounds and NME was similarly negative, quipping that "unfortunately the 'image', public or otherwise, is a good deal less limited than many of the more practical factors involved in this venture."

However, it is now considered as a groundbreaking post-punk classic. Pitchfork Media stated "First Issue's industrial-strength stompers anticipate the scabrous art-punk of the Jesus Lizard and Slint, while Levene’s guitar curlicues on “Public Image” are the stuff Daydream Nations are made of." It is, along with Metal Box, included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Public Image: First Issue
1. Theme 9:05
2. Religion I 1:40
3. Religion II 5:40
4. Annalisa 6:00
5. Public Image 2:58
6. Low Life 3:35
7. Attack 2:55
8. Fodderstompf 7:40
Personel:
John Lydon – vocals, piano
Keith Levene – guitar
Jah Wobble – bass, vocals and fire extinguisher on "Fodderstompf"
Jim Walker – drums, vocals on "Fodderstompf"

DISCOGS