Hey pals! You may have heard us mention it on the podcast, or seen it posted on our social media, but the great voting has commenced for Daniel Myer’s deep cut setlist for Terminus Festival 2016! Yes, you too can have a hand in selecting which songs from Daniel’s extensive catalogue will be played at Canada’s favourite dark music festival, including rarities from Cleen, Cleaner, Clear Vision and of course the mighty Haujobb. Head on over and drop a ballot in the box, and stay posted for results when we cut the voting off some time in the next week or two. In the meantime, why not have a gander at all these delightful new songs we unearthed for your listening pleasure?
Severed Heads should probably go to the doctor, but don't want to be a nuisance.
Severed Heads, “Beautiful Arab Surface”
Holy moose, the first new original Severed Heads material in nearly a decade! Yes, we had a reinterpreted retrospective a year back in Better Dead Than Head, but this is something of a far kookier conceptual order. We’d encourage you to read the full account, but the short version is that we have two lengthy cut-up style pieces assembled using samples from old acetate recordings, which, yes, are receiving a very limited pressing on the now nearly extinct but storied format. Even if you’re not springing for such an anachronism, the weird mix of the unearthly and the prosaic Tom Ellard and Steward Lawler are able to work here is well worth your time.
Technophobia, “Negative Space (Alter Der Ruine mix)”
Washington DC’s Technophobia have been working their own brand of darkwave-inflected electronic music since 2013, and while they’re still on the low-profile tip their sound shouldn’t be hard for any fan of melodic electronics to get in on. The first single from their forthcoming album Flicker Out is “Negative Space”, and features some hot remixes from the likes of Void Vision, hERETICS iN tHE lAB and Alter Der Ruine, the latter of which is embedded below. It’s a nice piece of business from both acts, with ADR latching onto the presence and power of the original vocal and injecting it with their own sense of wounded poise.
V▲LH▲LL, “Niðingrdans”
Don’t know about you guys, but V▲LH▲LL is not necessarily a band we associate with the first day of Summer, or sunlight or warmth for that matter. Still, we’d be lying if we didn’t hear some brighter vibes on their latest, arriving as it does on the Litha solstice. The song can be found on Pale Noir’s excellent new compilation 23° 26′, a pay-what-you-want affair featuring other artists we dig like MAHR, D/SIR and M‡яc∆ll∆ to name a few. Think of it as the Ghost Vikings coming ashore on a moonlit beach for a few minutes before heading off on their inscrutable Scandinavian way.
Cities Last Broadcast, “Glossolalia”
Dagnabbit, it wasn’t but three weeks ago that we were talking about the incredibly prolific run dark ambient wizard Pär Boström’s been on for the past twelve months after a long silent spell and he’s already released another LP. This one’s a follow up to the Cities Last Broadcast side-project LP he released in 2009. On first passes The Humming Tapes looks to be continuing the themes of urban decay he explored on The Cancelled Earth, though there seems to be a lot more crackle and hiss this time, presumably from the titular artifacts. Stay tuned…
Walk Onto Sun, “Prince Of Lies”
A tape which came to the HQ a while back but which may have got waylaid during the move, Walk Onto Sun’s debut EP has a little smidge of everything. We suppose we’d go with darkwave as a handle, but in the broadest sense of the term which incorporates fractured minimal wave, bleary post-punk, and a restless and claustrophobic mood. In spite of all that it’s feels a very unified listen, lurking just around the edges of the dancefloor.
OLMS, “Say the Word”
Ultra-prolific American darkwaver OLMS shares a teaser from his forthcoming release Severance with “Say the Word”. We find it hard to keep up with Dennis Hudson’s release schedule, but one thing we can’t fault the guy for is quality control; where so many artists with his level of output fall short in either production or songwriting, all of OLMS’s stuff (including his releases as White Christian Male and various other side-projects) always feel complete. Part of that may have to do with OLMS’ aesthetic, which marries raw-but-not-rough sound design to reserved melody, a deep well of emotion covered over and waiting to be revealed.
