The voice of Athan Maroulis will always be linked to the seminal Los Angeles based trio Spahn Ranch, a band that pounded the ’90s Industrial scene with a daring mix of electro-flavored Synth Pop fused with a menacing pall of atmospheric Goth. To this day, a number of Spahn Ranch songs like “Vortex” and “Heretic’s Fork” still pack dark dance floors around the globe. In the aftermath of Spahn Ranch, Athan returned to his native New York City where he took a decade-long break from performing, and instead produced countless reissues of 1930s and 1940s jazz and blues music while working behind the scenes advising a number of varied Darkwave bands. In those years, Athan occasionally appeared as a guest on albums by Razed in Black and Black Tape for a Blue Girl. He joined the latter officially in 2009, cutting an album while also completing tours both here and abroad, highlighted by a packed show at the Leipzig Opera House during the 2011 Wave-Gotik-Treffen Festival.
While on hiatus from Black Tape, Athan conceptualized NOIR as a project where his Industrial and Gothic past would walk the wire between retro and futuristic sounds, brought into a moody electronic present by synth-laced hooks meshed with elements of dance, dark ambient and touches of glitch-induced EBM. The result is Darkly Near, an album influenced by an idealized black-and-white perception of New York City, where yesteryear’s views of tomorrow are pressed against the machinery of today. Lyrically, Darkly Near is an album of endings, a montage that travels through a dreamy death trip of sensuality littered with faded film stars, Rod Serling scripts, Weegee snapshots, con artists, replicants, and the layered recollections of a solitary man waiting for a train.
Released on the heels of 2012’s successful digital single “My Dear” (that featured an exclusive Assemblage 23 remix), NOIR’s mature yet strikingly refreshing Darkly Near album will be supported by a select string of exclusive live dates.
If there is one thing the music scene in Iceland is known for, it's interesting collaborations and unexpected, often brilliant results. That may well be an understatement for the new split 7" collaboration between two Icelandic acts that defy categorization: Sólstafir and Legend. The split 7" finds each band covering a track from the other band, in a mixture of post-metal, rock, and dark-pop that is hard to categorize.
Sólstafir, whom AllMusic referred to once as "Robert Smith playing Krautrock in a fjord," does a long, post-metal version of one of Legend's best tracks: Runaway Train. The result is a haunting mixture of rock, pop, and post-everything angst that high-lights singer Addi Tryggvason's unmistakably unique vocal talents.
Legend does their own version of the Sólstafir mega-hit Fjara, on which frontman Krummi Bjorgvins (also of Minus fame) sings beautifully. Choosing to do Fjara was perhaps ballsy, but Legend pulls it off with flare, making the rock anthem into a dark-pop number worthy of Depeche Mode or The Mission.
The 7" vinyl features an exclusive photo by Icelandic artist Iris Sigurdardottir with the band-members lined up in a black room, side-by-side. The cover premiered exclusively on Terrorizer Magazine's website last week. The vinyl is limited to 300 copies worldwide, half of which have already been sold: 140 black and two mixed colour editions:
1. Crystal clear with silver (90 copies)
2. Crystal clear with little bit of mixed solid red (70 copies)
The two artists have often collaborated in the past. Halldor Bjornsson, Legend's keyboarder, played keyboards and assisted with production on Solstafir's 2011 album Svartir Sandar (which went to number 7 in Finland and number 1 in Iceland). The artists have also appeared on the same bill at many festivals, including Iceland Airwaves, Eistnaflug, and Reykjavik's 2012 Anti-Christmas Festival, where Legend's Krummi got on stage with Solstafir and aided with vocal duties.
Schonwald, the Italian band, has just unveiled a new track and video: "Treasure". The track will be released as a promotional track on a compilation.
Here again, Alessandra Gismondi and Luca Bandini have produced a great blend of shoegaze and cold-wave music with a touch of psychedelia. If you like The KVB, The Soft Moon of PHOSPHOR, you will love this!
Schonwald on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.
schonwald - 'treasure' from schonwald on Vimeo.
Jonteknik Music is pleased to announce the release of: CD TEK 009 - People at an Exhibition
Jonteknik Music is pleased to announce the release of: CD TEK 009 : People at an Exhibition.
You can pre-order the CD (Release date :02nd of december 2013) here :http://www.jonteknikmusic.com/page7.htm
Track Listing:
01 People at an Exhibition - Jonteknik Edit
02 People at an Exhibition - Rename Twelve-Inch Mix
03 Notstandskomitee: Music Machine (Musik Maschine Mix)
04 People at an Exhibition - People Theatre Remix
05 People at an Exhibition - Peter Schlemihl Remix
06 Man of Science - Minimal Re-werk Mix by Neon
07 People at an Exhibition - The Joining Remix
08 Music by Machines - Machined by Minus-K Mix
09 Robot Music - Metroland’s Automated Remake
10 People at an Exhibition - Rename Seven-Inch Mix
11 Robot Music - GravitySlip Remix
12 People at an Exhibition - Jonny Loves House Remix
13 The Stars Are Not Alone - Kikai Edit
14 People at an Exhibition - Rename Exhibition Dub
15 tbc
As with 'The Satellites of Substance' album, this will be a proper factory-pressed CD from a glass master (not a cdr) and runs at over 70 minutes long.
MUSHY, the Italian cold-wave/synth-wave artist, has chosen peek-a-boo-magazine.be to unveil her brand new video, which features the track "Can I Hold The Sky", taken from the recent Split EP MUSHY/MEDDICINE, released by Weyrd Son Records.
The video was directed by Francesco Brunotti.
MUSHY will be playing in Brussels on 21st November at the London Calling, supported by the Canadian duo ESSAIE PAS and by Marie Davidson (solo set). Page of the concert.
More information about MUSHY here / To buy the Split EP / Weyrd Son Records on the Web and on Facebook.
MUSHY - CAN I HOLD THE SKY from Weyrd Son on Vimeo.
