Gothic Music on Myspace
I've at last completed my trawl of Myspace for bands who describe
themselves with the title Gothic. Some of these labels seem mischievous, and
others hard to justify, and of course it doesn't mean that those concerned are
Goths of any ilk at all; but out of it emerges a fascinating picture of the way
things are moving. I searched the first hundred artistes to come up, ordered
by the number of times their profile was viewed, in Britain, in the States, and
everywhere else, so about 300 - a mere tenth, it has to be said, of all the
self-described 'Gothic' combos on the site, but one has a life to lead.
Certainly as far as the UK is concerned, this is quite enough to take you
down into deeply unrewarding territory. Most of it is naturally tripe, as most
of every form of artistic output is tripe, but to find something worthwhile in
about 60 of 300 cases isn't bad going at all. As time goes on, I tend to be
drawn to music which either provides something slightly quirky and
out-of-the-ordinary, or which has a sense of humour, which inevitably
steered me in certain directions and conditioned who I decided to take a look
at; but sometimes I was pleasantly surprised.
The bands and artistes are arranged below by genre, subcategory, or
however you prefer to describe it. Of course the boundaries between some
of them are very fuzzy, and some can only be detected in comparison with
each other: you can tell when you've moved from one to the other, but not
pinpoint the moment of transition. Equally, bands tend to rotate the tracks
they put on Myspace, so you may not find all my picked ones there. A click
on each picture should take you to that artiste's Myspace site.
Alt-country/Gothabilly
Naturally America and the UK provide all the folk in this category, and that
word is apposite because it could be described as American folk, or twists
thereon.
Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots (US) A brilliant name and a brilliant image,
the worryingly cadaverous Munly Munly accompanied by picturesque young
women playing cellos. Munly also sings with Slim Cessna's Auto Club, and
his own band sounds similar but with a rather grimmer blush to it. Picks:
Amen Corner, The Denver Boot Redux.
The Otherfolk (UK) Texmex Goth Western. The title 'Higher Plains Drifter'
tells you all you need to know. They have ceased to exist apart from this
ethereal presence, and trip along like a hoss carrying you unconcernedly to
Hell. Pick: Tupelo Tree.
Owlls (UK) Very Calexic-ish: jangly guitars, Hammond organs, and a singer
having a stab at being Nick Cave. Pick: Doghead.
The Revelator Band (UK) Actually this lot don't label themselves 'Gothic' at
all, but for heaven's sake, they're chaps in long coats and black hats who
compose what sounds like a soundtrack for the bone-strewn, wind-pared
Western plains. Pick: My Top Hat is on Fire.
Reverend Glasseye (US) Wallowing in the stories of doomed souls in some
mythical demented South. Picks: God Help You Dumb Boy; Seventeen
Lashes.
Slim Cessna's Auto Club (US) Much more openly tongue-in-cheek, but still
folk with menace: often ridiculously fast and bordering on the incoherent.
Picks: All About the Bullfrogs, Children of the Lord, No M'Lady, This is
How We Do Things in the Country.
Strawfoot (US) Beloved of sepiachord.com, Strawfoot tell cautionary tales of
drink and damnation like disgraced preachers begging a bourbon for a story.
Picks: Damnation Way, Fiddle and Jug, Strawfoot Waltz.
The Thrift Store Cowboys (US) They may not look anything special, but the
Cowboys have a gentler, more thoughtful sound than the other bands here;
though not without humour, it sounds as though they mean it. Pick: Sidewalk
Song.
Cabaret
Abby Travis (US) Very smooth and silky, melancholy and bereft, swilling
from the whisky glass (metaphorically) as each song progresses to its ruin.
More instruments than is usual, but still just about within this category.
Picks: Hunger, Toast to the Unappreciated.
The Crepe Hangers (US) It's a girl and a piano, basically. 'Sounds like the
party at the funeral parlor[sic]', she says, and that's fair enough. Gentle, sad,
delicious. Pick: Bottle the Tears.
The Rohan Theatre Band (UK) And a man with a piano. A mad and
possibly quite bad man, in a hat. Give Tom Waits piano lessons and this is
what you might get. Only one of Rohan Kriwaczek's projects, like the
entirely mythical Guild of Funerary Violinists. Pick: How Many Ways.
Vermilion Lies (US) The Boekbinder sisters look like a pair of children's
toys who've rebelled and run off to join the circus, but got lost and ended up
somewhere far more dubious. They could equally fit in the sepiachord
category, and sound like a girly version of the Tiger Lillies without the
scatological rage. Everything on their site is unreservedly wonderful, but try:
Circus Apocalypse.
Darkwave
Difficult to define, this: I use it to refer to music closely resembling
mid-1980s Goth standards and usually, therefore, a sort of sombre pop.
Darling Violetta (US) Soulful, spirited, very listenable Goth pop. Pick:
Cocoon, A Smaller God.
Johnny Hollow (Canada) What a wonderful website, and those moths and
bugs: exploiting the creepy connotations of the genus arthropoda. Menacing
music without being humourless. They know what they're doing. Pick:
Stranger, This Hollow World.
Ketrah (Canada) Ketrah takes herself a smidgen too seriously, but has an
unusual voice and brings enough interest to the music to make it worthwhile.
Pick: Traitor's Gate.
La Fille d'Octobre (France) Grandiose and cinematic, La Fille edges towards
rock but keeps us out of that area with delicate delivery and an unusual range
of instruments. Pick: Tue de l'Amour.
Nebelhexe (Norway) Slinky and delightful and not at all icemaidenish,
Nebelhexe wrap themselves up with a certain amount of pagan witchy tosh,
but we forgive them, for their lovely dark, low rhythms. Picks: Erzulie's
Charm, Reverse.
Species 8472 (UK) Mysterious and Scottish, Species 8472 are actually rather
a genre-busting combo with elements of Celtopop, avant-garde cabaret,
rock, and electronica. So they end up here. No idea what they look like, they
want to keep it quiet. Pick: A Tripwire.
Electronica
Era Nocturna (US) Trippy, swirly, poppy, but too uptempo to be 'ambient'
Pick: Where I'm Not.
The Strix (UK) Dark pop polished to a high gloss - as relaxing as it gets,
despite the odd venture into Eartha-Kitt like vocals. Pick: Void.
Yendri (Germany) Really interesting synthesised music with Oriental and
medieval rhythms making their appearance over the beats. Pick: Just Hurt
Me, We Are Everywhere East.
Ethereal/Ambient
Her Blackened Rose (UK) Oh-so-weepy image, angels and fallen flowers.
But not a bad example of gentle, regretful, moping-in-the-corner stuff. Pick:
Alone in the Dark.
Promise and the Monster (Sweden) The wonderful name probably results
from a mistranslation, but still. Acoustic guitar-led, breathy vocals, pleasingly
melancholy. Pick: Night Out.
Folk
This 'genre' only really makes sense in the British context. In the States it's
'country', and some European bands I think of as Neo-medieval would
describe themselves as 'folk'; but I know too little about European folk
traditions to judge. It's a debatable point.
The Book of Ordres (UK) And The Book of Ordres doesn't make things any
easier, because their stuff is played on synths so they could class as
Electronica. Oh well. Pick: The Greenfield Waltz.
The Low Road (UK) Gentle, down-tempo and female-voiced, The Low Road
aren't far from the 'Ethereal', but recognisably open out of British folk
tradition. Occasional Ivor Cutler-like voiceovers are a bit distracting! Pick:
Denial.
Wolf's Head & the Vixen Morris (UK) Wonderfully mad, pagan English folk
rubbish. An entire gang of girls and blacked-up chaps with accordions,
fiddles and skin drums cavorting up and down the streets of unsuspecting
provincial towns or darting in and out of stone circles. Pick: Rochester
Cobbles.
Metal
I don't like metal. I usually find it unbearably pompous, self-important, and
aesthetically uninteresting. So it' been a pleasure to discover a handful of
(European, it must be pointed out) bands who call themselves 'gothic' and
'metal' who are actually good fun!
Beyon-D-lusion (France) The name is a slightly daft pun which probably
seems a good idea if you're French, but the band are nicely Evanescence-like
with the same mix of grinding guitars and female vocals, if not quite the
same spirituality. Pick: Sweet Surrender.
The Difference Engine (UK) Serious-minded, but quirky enough to be good
fun. And to call yourself after a Victorian clockwork computer that was
never actually built is clearly a mark in your favour. Pick: Carpe Deus.
Epica (Netherlands) Their stuff goes on a bit - well, a lot in fact - but the
combination of growly thrash-metal vocals with a keening operatic soprano
and Arabesque motifs is completely winning. Picks: Death of a Dream, Fools
of Damnation.
Godyva (Italy) More heavy rock with a soaring female vocal, so
outrageously over-the-top that it just can't fail. Their site seems to cause my
'puter problems, and may do yours. Pick: Intimate.
Neoclassical
Dargaard (Austria) Shimmery stuff full of bells and strings, but with a metal
tang from time to time. Pick: Thy Fleeing Time.
Funeral Dusk (Colombia) Tomas Molina clearly wants to write movie
music, but nobody has let him so far, so he puts it out on Myspace. Pick:
Vampyric Waltz.
Jennifer Grassman (US) Jennifer Grassman no longer describes herself as
'gothic', which is probably just, as she sings and plays her own
interpretations of hymns and traditional song, as well as the occasional new
composition. Her version of Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence still makes my
hair stand on end, though. Picks: Keep Silence, Can It Be So.
Kirsten Morrison (UK) Ms Morrison veers towards neo-folk and
neo-medieval with her Latin motets and jangly lute-ishness, but I've put her
here as a compromise. Runs from breathy melancholy to bouncy settings of
William Blake! Picks: Amor est Vitae Esse, Janey, Salaviei, The Tyger.
Lerue Delashay (US) Mr Delashay may look like the world's biggest twit,
but his stuff is actually rather fun, while many neoclassical goth artistes are
even more whinily self-indulgent than the deathrockers. Of course it's just
him, so no orchestral works yet. Pick: Golgotha.
The Society of Imaginary Friends (UK) Beautiful, beautiful. Louise Kleboe's
voice isn't quite as strong as it should be, but take on Dido' Lament with a
synthesizer and you deserve full points. Operatic is not too strong a word.
Picks: Dido's Lament, Questa Notte, For Those Online.
Neomedieval
Misericordia (UK) Truth be told, there's nothing neomedieval about this pair
at all. They play authentic tunes on authentic instruments, and perform in
museums and churches; even Gothic Voices are not more serious
reconstructionists. Shiver me tabors! Picks: Procurans Odium, Saltarello.
Weltenbrand (Liechtenstein) We ought to like Weltenbrand more, but then
they shouldn't be quite so mitteleuropische pagan - and massively grandiose
with it! Still, among the best of their ilk and giving a nicely modern twist to
all the Black Forest soundtrack stuff. Pick: Intro.
Pop
Miss Derringer (US) We object to creating another sub-genre, but Miss
Derringer leave us no choice, for taking pastiche '50s bubblegum pop and
pushing it through a black filter. Songs of guns, blood and broken hearts.
Picks: Better Run Away; Don't Say I Told You So; He Hung on a Sunday;
Heartbreak and Razorblades.
Psychobilly
Psychobilly is a sort of subset of Gothabilly, I think, but rather than seducing
your sensibilities with a subtle interrogation of the country genre, prefers to
parade itself as an unashamed piss-take.
The Coffin Draggers (US) Sound like somebody on speed, but I can't
remember who. Pick: Let's Die Together.
Muleskinner Jones (UK) 'From the Wild Westcountry', he claims.
Demented. Picks: Blood and Muskets, Death Row Hoedown.
Profunda Rosa (Canada) Murder at the drive-in. Picks: Bloody Dungeon,
Voodoo Doll.
Punk
Mary Bendytoy (UK) Punk, of course, is a different sort of piss-take. Mary
Bendytoy of Oxford are a clever set of thrash-merchants and do it well; they
also include our chum Maurice, and so have to have a mention. Pick: Spider.
New Days Delay (Germany) My God, it's like we've been catapulted back to
1976 only with more laughs, better clothes, and some degree of musical
competence. Good fun and not at all Teutonic. Picks: Pretend There Was
Surprise, Stereokatastrophe, Tiny Monsters, Vermutlich Hysterisch.
Psideralica (Spain) Extremely good: with a sensibility close to the Stolen
Babies but far more closely tied to the punk template. Dark, creative, but
grown-up enough to be interesting. Picks: Caja de Cristal, Disturbing
Dreams, Tonight.
Punk Cabaret
'Punk Cabaret' was the phrase Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls invented
to stop journalists using the word 'Gothic 'to describe them. So I take it to
describe a sort of intimate confessional or story-telling chanson type
combined with a hard musical sensibility. It could be cabaret, bears relation
with sepiachord, but isn't quite either.
Katzenjammer Kabarett (France) Ouch! Sometimes more punky, sometimes
more cabaresque, sometimes spikily avant-garde, KK are the Dresden Dolls'
francophone cousins. And we love the look. Picks: Eve at the Mansion,
Gemini Girly Song, Nevermore Brothel.
Rock
'Rock' covers any number of sins. It can range extremely widely, but
generally describes a slightly more mainstream guitar and drum sound than
the other categories. But otherwise not much connects this lot.
Anemonia (Canada) Another operatic female wailing over a thumping
background, but rather more along the line to glam than the metal bands
above. Pick: The Quest.
The Astrovamps (US) An utter mockery. Not much to separate them from
Profunda Rosa as described, apart from the male vocals and slightly heavier
sound. The professionals will tell you more (critics, not doctors). Pick:
Somebody Forgot to Tell Me I was Dead.
Cauda Pavonis (UK) I think even I'd heard vaguely of this lot so to many
people they won't be news. Slightly self-regarding, but enough quirky
instrumentation packed into the tracks to maintain interest. Pick: Carnival
Noir.
Holy Cowbell (UK) Only the picture would lead you to have these chaps (&
girl) down as Goths at all; could easily be taken as mainstream rock. Pick:
Lippy Bitch.
Lyriel (Germany) They rock along on slightly folky motifs wrapped around
sawing guitars. Pick: The Promised Land.
Mojag (UK) Were (because they have ceased to be) thoroughly retro, mid-
'80s Cult-template Goth rock, and good at it. Pick: Sheol.
The Pleasures (Germany) An utterly embarrassing collection of
Goth-glam-rockers in Alice Cooper makeup. Enormous fun - we just hope
they don't mean it. In fact we pray they don't mean it. Pick: Honeymoon in
Venice.
Sacred (UK) A very personable pair of girl glam-rockers with their tongues
not quite so far in their cheeks as some already cited. They sound like they're
having huge fun and want you to join in. Picks: Little Devil; Toys in the Attic.
Shane Cough (France) They have a wildly eclectic sound, and singer
Marianne even sounds like PJ Harvey sometimes. Always lots going on,
always lots to listen to - if you have the stomach for wild swings from
avant-garde to electronic to grinding guitars. Very mature indeed. Picks:
Carnal Desire, Suffocate Me, Taste of Bruises.
Strange Red Earth (UK) The closest thing to The Bad Seeds you're likely to
find without going to - well, The Bad Seeds. Songs of unaccountable hate
and malevolence. Picks: The Caesars, Reverend Crow.
Sepiachord
Hmm. Sepiachord.com want to promote the claims of this 'genre that doesn't
exist', and you can see their point. I find that the stuff I like most these days
falls into this box: quirky, self-aware and humorous, and curiously
backward-looking, like Goth music-hall; and many new Goth artistes seem to
be drawn along this path though the US dominates for the time being. We're
not entirely convinced, but will go with it for now. See what you think. If
you don't swallow its connection with Goth at all, take note that Rasputina
are supporting Siouxsie on her Californian tour this year. So there.
Beat Circus (US) Vicious little soundscapes of small-town American
menace, about 1910, I'd say. If that sounds unlistenable, think again. Picks:
Death Fugue, The Ghost of Emma Jean.
Christine Smith (US) Goths and accordions are a dangerous combination.
The uptempo tone keeps Ms Smith out of the cabaret category and in this
one. More delightful vignettes of cheerful decadence; you're evil, she says,
but you're not the only one. Pick: Evil.
The Peculiar Pretzelmen (US) Not self-labelled Gothic, but I located them
through the Dresden Dolls so it's not my fault. Songs with horrible
happenings, sung by a whisky-stinking madman at the window with a
gap-toothed grin. Picks: Six-Volt Car, Who's That Knocking.
Picturebox (UK) Frantic collisions of strings racing at high speed. Take a
breath. Picks: I Killed Love, Ship of Fools.
Rasputina (US) So proudly anachronistic they describe their concerts as
'recitals', Rasputina tell insane little stories of the past with strings and drums
and a singer who should be locked away, if only for dressing like Marie
Antoinette after the execution. Unmitigatedly wonderful. Picks: Cage in a
Cave.
Rosin Coven (US) Look, sometimes descriptions peter out. Rosin Coven's
particular blend of the strings-vocals-drums combination could fit in several
places; originally I had Dybbuk's Dirge down as Goth neo-klezmer', but you
can't say that, can you? So they're here. And marvellous, utterly bizarre with
a strangely glittery, hard edge. Picks: Bed for Blossom, the aforementioned
Dybbuk's Dirge, Ladybug's Pas De Deux.
Rykarda Parasol and the Tower Ravens (US) We fell about when we saw
this, what must be the most outrageously camp and glorious name for a
Goth band in history. Surprisingly serious and Harveyesque - tales of
doomed girls wafted over understated music. Picks: Hannah Leah, She's Like
Heroin to Me.
Thee Single Spy (UK) They couldn't be anything other than English.
Compared to some of the other bands, no fireworks, but quirkily black.
Seems to be a solitary chap joined by others as required. He also appears to
wax his moustache, which is a bad sign. Pick: Ghosts.
I've at last completed my trawl of Myspace for bands who describe
themselves with the title Gothic. Some of these labels seem mischievous, and
others hard to justify, and of course it doesn't mean that those concerned are
Goths of any ilk at all; but out of it emerges a fascinating picture of the way
things are moving. I searched the first hundred artistes to come up, ordered
by the number of times their profile was viewed, in Britain, in the States, and
everywhere else, so about 300 - a mere tenth, it has to be said, of all the
self-described 'Gothic' combos on the site, but one has a life to lead.
Certainly as far as the UK is concerned, this is quite enough to take you
down into deeply unrewarding territory. Most of it is naturally tripe, as most
of every form of artistic output is tripe, but to find something worthwhile in
about 60 of 300 cases isn't bad going at all. As time goes on, I tend to be
drawn to music which either provides something slightly quirky and
out-of-the-ordinary, or which has a sense of humour, which inevitably
steered me in certain directions and conditioned who I decided to take a look
at; but sometimes I was pleasantly surprised.
The bands and artistes are arranged below by genre, subcategory, or
however you prefer to describe it. Of course the boundaries between some
of them are very fuzzy, and some can only be detected in comparison with
each other: you can tell when you've moved from one to the other, but not
pinpoint the moment of transition. Equally, bands tend to rotate the tracks
they put on Myspace, so you may not find all my picked ones there. A click
on each picture should take you to that artiste's Myspace site.
Alt-country/Gothabilly
Naturally America and the UK provide all the folk in this category, and that
word is apposite because it could be described as American folk, or twists
thereon.
Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots (US) A brilliant name and a brilliant image,
the worryingly cadaverous Munly Munly accompanied by picturesque young
women playing cellos. Munly also sings with Slim Cessna's Auto Club, and
his own band sounds similar but with a rather grimmer blush to it. Picks:
Amen Corner, The Denver Boot Redux.
The Otherfolk (UK) Texmex Goth Western. The title 'Higher Plains Drifter'
tells you all you need to know. They have ceased to exist apart from this
ethereal presence, and trip along like a hoss carrying you unconcernedly to
Hell. Pick: Tupelo Tree.
Owlls (UK) Very Calexic-ish: jangly guitars, Hammond organs, and a singer
having a stab at being Nick Cave. Pick: Doghead.
The Revelator Band (UK) Actually this lot don't label themselves 'Gothic' at
all, but for heaven's sake, they're chaps in long coats and black hats who
compose what sounds like a soundtrack for the bone-strewn, wind-pared
Western plains. Pick: My Top Hat is on Fire.
Reverend Glasseye (US) Wallowing in the stories of doomed souls in some
mythical demented South. Picks: God Help You Dumb Boy; Seventeen
Lashes.
Slim Cessna's Auto Club (US) Much more openly tongue-in-cheek, but still
folk with menace: often ridiculously fast and bordering on the incoherent.
Picks: All About the Bullfrogs, Children of the Lord, No M'Lady, This is
How We Do Things in the Country.
Strawfoot (US) Beloved of sepiachord.com, Strawfoot tell cautionary tales of
drink and damnation like disgraced preachers begging a bourbon for a story.
Picks: Damnation Way, Fiddle and Jug, Strawfoot Waltz.
The Thrift Store Cowboys (US) They may not look anything special, but the
Cowboys have a gentler, more thoughtful sound than the other bands here;
though not without humour, it sounds as though they mean it. Pick: Sidewalk
Song.
Cabaret
Abby Travis (US) Very smooth and silky, melancholy and bereft, swilling
from the whisky glass (metaphorically) as each song progresses to its ruin.
More instruments than is usual, but still just about within this category.
Picks: Hunger, Toast to the Unappreciated.
The Crepe Hangers (US) It's a girl and a piano, basically. 'Sounds like the
party at the funeral parlor[sic]', she says, and that's fair enough. Gentle, sad,
delicious. Pick: Bottle the Tears.
The Rohan Theatre Band (UK) And a man with a piano. A mad and
possibly quite bad man, in a hat. Give Tom Waits piano lessons and this is
what you might get. Only one of Rohan Kriwaczek's projects, like the
entirely mythical Guild of Funerary Violinists. Pick: How Many Ways.
Vermilion Lies (US) The Boekbinder sisters look like a pair of children's
toys who've rebelled and run off to join the circus, but got lost and ended up
somewhere far more dubious. They could equally fit in the sepiachord
category, and sound like a girly version of the Tiger Lillies without the
scatological rage. Everything on their site is unreservedly wonderful, but try:
Circus Apocalypse.
Darkwave
Difficult to define, this: I use it to refer to music closely resembling
mid-1980s Goth standards and usually, therefore, a sort of sombre pop.
Darling Violetta (US) Soulful, spirited, very listenable Goth pop. Pick:
Cocoon, A Smaller God.
Johnny Hollow (Canada) What a wonderful website, and those moths and
bugs: exploiting the creepy connotations of the genus arthropoda. Menacing
music without being humourless. They know what they're doing. Pick:
Stranger, This Hollow World.
Ketrah (Canada) Ketrah takes herself a smidgen too seriously, but has an
unusual voice and brings enough interest to the music to make it worthwhile.
Pick: Traitor's Gate.
La Fille d'Octobre (France) Grandiose and cinematic, La Fille edges towards
rock but keeps us out of that area with delicate delivery and an unusual range
of instruments. Pick: Tue de l'Amour.
Nebelhexe (Norway) Slinky and delightful and not at all icemaidenish,
Nebelhexe wrap themselves up with a certain amount of pagan witchy tosh,
but we forgive them, for their lovely dark, low rhythms. Picks: Erzulie's
Charm, Reverse.
Species 8472 (UK) Mysterious and Scottish, Species 8472 are actually rather
a genre-busting combo with elements of Celtopop, avant-garde cabaret,
rock, and electronica. So they end up here. No idea what they look like, they
want to keep it quiet. Pick: A Tripwire.
Electronica
Era Nocturna (US) Trippy, swirly, poppy, but too uptempo to be 'ambient'
Pick: Where I'm Not.
The Strix (UK) Dark pop polished to a high gloss - as relaxing as it gets,
despite the odd venture into Eartha-Kitt like vocals. Pick: Void.
Yendri (Germany) Really interesting synthesised music with Oriental and
medieval rhythms making their appearance over the beats. Pick: Just Hurt
Me, We Are Everywhere East.
Ethereal/Ambient
Her Blackened Rose (UK) Oh-so-weepy image, angels and fallen flowers.
But not a bad example of gentle, regretful, moping-in-the-corner stuff. Pick:
Alone in the Dark.
Promise and the Monster (Sweden) The wonderful name probably results
from a mistranslation, but still. Acoustic guitar-led, breathy vocals, pleasingly
melancholy. Pick: Night Out.
Folk
This 'genre' only really makes sense in the British context. In the States it's
'country', and some European bands I think of as Neo-medieval would
describe themselves as 'folk'; but I know too little about European folk
traditions to judge. It's a debatable point.
The Book of Ordres (UK) And The Book of Ordres doesn't make things any
easier, because their stuff is played on synths so they could class as
Electronica. Oh well. Pick: The Greenfield Waltz.
The Low Road (UK) Gentle, down-tempo and female-voiced, The Low Road
aren't far from the 'Ethereal', but recognisably open out of British folk
tradition. Occasional Ivor Cutler-like voiceovers are a bit distracting! Pick:
Denial.
Wolf's Head & the Vixen Morris (UK) Wonderfully mad, pagan English folk
rubbish. An entire gang of girls and blacked-up chaps with accordions,
fiddles and skin drums cavorting up and down the streets of unsuspecting
provincial towns or darting in and out of stone circles. Pick: Rochester
Cobbles.
Metal
I don't like metal. I usually find it unbearably pompous, self-important, and
aesthetically uninteresting. So it' been a pleasure to discover a handful of
(European, it must be pointed out) bands who call themselves 'gothic' and
'metal' who are actually good fun!
Beyon-D-lusion (France) The name is a slightly daft pun which probably
seems a good idea if you're French, but the band are nicely Evanescence-like
with the same mix of grinding guitars and female vocals, if not quite the
same spirituality. Pick: Sweet Surrender.
The Difference Engine (UK) Serious-minded, but quirky enough to be good
fun. And to call yourself after a Victorian clockwork computer that was
never actually built is clearly a mark in your favour. Pick: Carpe Deus.
Epica (Netherlands) Their stuff goes on a bit - well, a lot in fact - but the
combination of growly thrash-metal vocals with a keening operatic soprano
and Arabesque motifs is completely winning. Picks: Death of a Dream, Fools
of Damnation.
Godyva (Italy) More heavy rock with a soaring female vocal, so
outrageously over-the-top that it just can't fail. Their site seems to cause my
'puter problems, and may do yours. Pick: Intimate.
Neoclassical
Dargaard (Austria) Shimmery stuff full of bells and strings, but with a metal
tang from time to time. Pick: Thy Fleeing Time.
Funeral Dusk (Colombia) Tomas Molina clearly wants to write movie
music, but nobody has let him so far, so he puts it out on Myspace. Pick:
Vampyric Waltz.
Jennifer Grassman (US) Jennifer Grassman no longer describes herself as
'gothic', which is probably just, as she sings and plays her own
interpretations of hymns and traditional song, as well as the occasional new
composition. Her version of Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence still makes my
hair stand on end, though. Picks: Keep Silence, Can It Be So.
Kirsten Morrison (UK) Ms Morrison veers towards neo-folk and
neo-medieval with her Latin motets and jangly lute-ishness, but I've put her
here as a compromise. Runs from breathy melancholy to bouncy settings of
William Blake! Picks: Amor est Vitae Esse, Janey, Salaviei, The Tyger.
Lerue Delashay (US) Mr Delashay may look like the world's biggest twit,
but his stuff is actually rather fun, while many neoclassical goth artistes are
even more whinily self-indulgent than the deathrockers. Of course it's just
him, so no orchestral works yet. Pick: Golgotha.
The Society of Imaginary Friends (UK) Beautiful, beautiful. Louise Kleboe's
voice isn't quite as strong as it should be, but take on Dido' Lament with a
synthesizer and you deserve full points. Operatic is not too strong a word.
Picks: Dido's Lament, Questa Notte, For Those Online.
Neomedieval
Misericordia (UK) Truth be told, there's nothing neomedieval about this pair
at all. They play authentic tunes on authentic instruments, and perform in
museums and churches; even Gothic Voices are not more serious
reconstructionists. Shiver me tabors! Picks: Procurans Odium, Saltarello.
Weltenbrand (Liechtenstein) We ought to like Weltenbrand more, but then
they shouldn't be quite so mitteleuropische pagan - and massively grandiose
with it! Still, among the best of their ilk and giving a nicely modern twist to
all the Black Forest soundtrack stuff. Pick: Intro.
Pop
Miss Derringer (US) We object to creating another sub-genre, but Miss
Derringer leave us no choice, for taking pastiche '50s bubblegum pop and
pushing it through a black filter. Songs of guns, blood and broken hearts.
Picks: Better Run Away; Don't Say I Told You So; He Hung on a Sunday;
Heartbreak and Razorblades.
Psychobilly
Psychobilly is a sort of subset of Gothabilly, I think, but rather than seducing
your sensibilities with a subtle interrogation of the country genre, prefers to
parade itself as an unashamed piss-take.
The Coffin Draggers (US) Sound like somebody on speed, but I can't
remember who. Pick: Let's Die Together.
Muleskinner Jones (UK) 'From the Wild Westcountry', he claims.
Demented. Picks: Blood and Muskets, Death Row Hoedown.
Profunda Rosa (Canada) Murder at the drive-in. Picks: Bloody Dungeon,
Voodoo Doll.
Punk
Mary Bendytoy (UK) Punk, of course, is a different sort of piss-take. Mary
Bendytoy of Oxford are a clever set of thrash-merchants and do it well; they
also include our chum Maurice, and so have to have a mention. Pick: Spider.
New Days Delay (Germany) My God, it's like we've been catapulted back to
1976 only with more laughs, better clothes, and some degree of musical
competence. Good fun and not at all Teutonic. Picks: Pretend There Was
Surprise, Stereokatastrophe, Tiny Monsters, Vermutlich Hysterisch.
Psideralica (Spain) Extremely good: with a sensibility close to the Stolen
Babies but far more closely tied to the punk template. Dark, creative, but
grown-up enough to be interesting. Picks: Caja de Cristal, Disturbing
Dreams, Tonight.
Punk Cabaret
'Punk Cabaret' was the phrase Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls invented
to stop journalists using the word 'Gothic 'to describe them. So I take it to
describe a sort of intimate confessional or story-telling chanson type
combined with a hard musical sensibility. It could be cabaret, bears relation
with sepiachord, but isn't quite either.
Katzenjammer Kabarett (France) Ouch! Sometimes more punky, sometimes
more cabaresque, sometimes spikily avant-garde, KK are the Dresden Dolls'
francophone cousins. And we love the look. Picks: Eve at the Mansion,
Gemini Girly Song, Nevermore Brothel.
Rock
'Rock' covers any number of sins. It can range extremely widely, but
generally describes a slightly more mainstream guitar and drum sound than
the other categories. But otherwise not much connects this lot.
Anemonia (Canada) Another operatic female wailing over a thumping
background, but rather more along the line to glam than the metal bands
above. Pick: The Quest.
The Astrovamps (US) An utter mockery. Not much to separate them from
Profunda Rosa as described, apart from the male vocals and slightly heavier
sound. The professionals will tell you more (critics, not doctors). Pick:
Somebody Forgot to Tell Me I was Dead.
Cauda Pavonis (UK) I think even I'd heard vaguely of this lot so to many
people they won't be news. Slightly self-regarding, but enough quirky
instrumentation packed into the tracks to maintain interest. Pick: Carnival
Noir.
Holy Cowbell (UK) Only the picture would lead you to have these chaps (&
girl) down as Goths at all; could easily be taken as mainstream rock. Pick:
Lippy Bitch.
Lyriel (Germany) They rock along on slightly folky motifs wrapped around
sawing guitars. Pick: The Promised Land.
Mojag (UK) Were (because they have ceased to be) thoroughly retro, mid-
'80s Cult-template Goth rock, and good at it. Pick: Sheol.
The Pleasures (Germany) An utterly embarrassing collection of
Goth-glam-rockers in Alice Cooper makeup. Enormous fun - we just hope
they don't mean it. In fact we pray they don't mean it. Pick: Honeymoon in
Venice.
Sacred (UK) A very personable pair of girl glam-rockers with their tongues
not quite so far in their cheeks as some already cited. They sound like they're
having huge fun and want you to join in. Picks: Little Devil; Toys in the Attic.
Shane Cough (France) They have a wildly eclectic sound, and singer
Marianne even sounds like PJ Harvey sometimes. Always lots going on,
always lots to listen to - if you have the stomach for wild swings from
avant-garde to electronic to grinding guitars. Very mature indeed. Picks:
Carnal Desire, Suffocate Me, Taste of Bruises.
Strange Red Earth (UK) The closest thing to The Bad Seeds you're likely to
find without going to - well, The Bad Seeds. Songs of unaccountable hate
and malevolence. Picks: The Caesars, Reverend Crow.
Sepiachord
Hmm. Sepiachord.com want to promote the claims of this 'genre that doesn't
exist', and you can see their point. I find that the stuff I like most these days
falls into this box: quirky, self-aware and humorous, and curiously
backward-looking, like Goth music-hall; and many new Goth artistes seem to
be drawn along this path though the US dominates for the time being. We're
not entirely convinced, but will go with it for now. See what you think. If
you don't swallow its connection with Goth at all, take note that Rasputina
are supporting Siouxsie on her Californian tour this year. So there.
Beat Circus (US) Vicious little soundscapes of small-town American
menace, about 1910, I'd say. If that sounds unlistenable, think again. Picks:
Death Fugue, The Ghost of Emma Jean.
Christine Smith (US) Goths and accordions are a dangerous combination.
The uptempo tone keeps Ms Smith out of the cabaret category and in this
one. More delightful vignettes of cheerful decadence; you're evil, she says,
but you're not the only one. Pick: Evil.
The Peculiar Pretzelmen (US) Not self-labelled Gothic, but I located them
through the Dresden Dolls so it's not my fault. Songs with horrible
happenings, sung by a whisky-stinking madman at the window with a
gap-toothed grin. Picks: Six-Volt Car, Who's That Knocking.
Picturebox (UK) Frantic collisions of strings racing at high speed. Take a
breath. Picks: I Killed Love, Ship of Fools.
Rasputina (US) So proudly anachronistic they describe their concerts as
'recitals', Rasputina tell insane little stories of the past with strings and drums
and a singer who should be locked away, if only for dressing like Marie
Antoinette after the execution. Unmitigatedly wonderful. Picks: Cage in a
Cave.
Rosin Coven (US) Look, sometimes descriptions peter out. Rosin Coven's
particular blend of the strings-vocals-drums combination could fit in several
places; originally I had Dybbuk's Dirge down as Goth neo-klezmer', but you
can't say that, can you? So they're here. And marvellous, utterly bizarre with
a strangely glittery, hard edge. Picks: Bed for Blossom, the aforementioned
Dybbuk's Dirge, Ladybug's Pas De Deux.
Rykarda Parasol and the Tower Ravens (US) We fell about when we saw
this, what must be the most outrageously camp and glorious name for a
Goth band in history. Surprisingly serious and Harveyesque - tales of
doomed girls wafted over understated music. Picks: Hannah Leah, She's Like
Heroin to Me.
Thee Single Spy (UK) They couldn't be anything other than English.
Compared to some of the other bands, no fireworks, but quirkily black.
Seems to be a solitary chap joined by others as required. He also appears to
wax his moustache, which is a bad sign. Pick: Ghosts.
