A little late this month, but I don’t think anyone minds. I wonder if I should start doing these by the Gregorian calendar and do them on the first of the month. Bah, hate that calendar, but it’s the one the whole of western civilization uses. I will think about doing so, let’s see how I feel on July 1st this month.
Anyway. I have some new stuff, some songs that are a few years old, and some throwbacks to the 90s, because that’s just what I’ve been into lately. Couldn’t quite make it to 10, but hey, I used to do these as top 3 lists. These are just the songs that have stuck with me, out of the dozens and possibly hundreds of songs I’ve been subjected to in the last 30 days, because I spend nearly all my waking hours listening to music while getting other things done.
Cabaret Grey ~ Subconscious
Find it here:
https://cabaretgreyofficial.bandcamp.com/album/cold-calculations
This Cold Night ~ First Class Citizen
This track takes us back to 2014, off of This Cold Night’s That Which I Cannot Control. This song just came up in my algorithm. I love a song that echoes my sentiments, it’s the lyrics that really drew me in, which express disdain with modern society. I too feel like I want to leave this place and I can’t exist here. A perfect “I Want” song for a hero to sing before the Call to Adventure in the Heroes Journey. And of course it has that bass-heavy post-punk vibe to it that I love too.
Find it here:
Totenwald ~ Shadows in Paradise
Find it here:
https://thisistotenwald.bandcamp.com/album/dirty-squats-disco-lights
Diavol Strâin ~ Cotard
Diavol Strâin of Chile has been consistently one of my favorite bands as of late. And yes, I finally figured out how to make an â on my touchscreen keyboard. This song is from their most recent album, November 2021’s Elegìa del Olvido/ Elegìa del Horror. This song caught my eye because it refers to Cotard’s Syndrome, which is when someone is convinced they’re either dead or don’t exist. Fascinating psychological condition. Anyway you can’t go wrong with this band.
You can find their album here:
Ayria ~ No One Asked You
Ayria is returning! Ayria along with And One were the two bands I couldn’t get enough of in my early to mid twenties, and while my musical tastes have changed since then, as I’m less into synthpop and more into guitar-based genres post-punk and coldwave. But I’ll always have a soft spot for Ayria, and I am eager to listen to her new album. It’s been several years since her previous album Paper Dolls, which as I recall had an overall dreary feel than her early work did. This album, from the two teasers we’ve been given which is this song and then the title track “Battle Cry” which was released in late 2020 (hard to believe it’s been that long), sounds more like a return to form for Ayria. The album releases this August. But I’ve already pre-ordered it, which I don’t do for just any old band. That concert back in 2013 where Jennifer Parkin signed my CD and gave me a hug went a long way.
You can pre-order it here:
Rodja ~ No Love for This System
Okay, I admit it. That album cover with Mickey Mouse and Goofy overlooking a post-apocalyptic landscape is why this song is here. Back in the old days when I had to get all my music from the record store and my choices were completely based on how cool the cover art looked, I’d have snatched this up in a second. I also have no love for this system. Another reason I still like System of a Down. Rodja is from Switzerland, and their album Dunkel released just late this May. Their music is very minimalistic synth. It’s good doomer music.
You can find their album here:
Je T’Aime ~ Love U
Je T’Aime is a coldwave/post-punk band from Paris, France, who released the three track EP Kiss the Boys last month, all proceeds are being donated to victims of the Ukraine war. They teamed up with Mikkel from The Foreign Resort on this track, and since I’ve liked The Foreign Resort for a few yearS now I was drawn to this track. Although it was hard to choose between this and “Kiss the Boys (and Make them Die)”.
You can buy the EP here:
And One ~ Made of Plastic
So speaking of Ayria earlier, this was the other band that I was obsessed with in my 20s. Now I may be tired of all the songs they play at every single goth club every night like “Military Fashion Show”, but they still have some hidden gems. I was listening to their 1994 album I.S.T. for the first time in years and this song just stuck with me. I don’t know how I overlooked it was back when. Seems that And One doesn’t have their old albums on Bandcamp so it’s probably bot easy to get the album the legit way. Discogs has it though.
Korn ~ Blind (demo)
I can seeeeeeeeee
I’m not done with my 90s rock kick quite yet. Actually this is part of a demo tape kick. I’ve been digging up old demo tapes of any of the bands I used to be into on YouTube, where they have a surprising amount of them. I’ve found demos from Rammstein, Linkin Park, Type O Negative, Theatre of Tragedy, Covenant, Alice in Chains, dozens upon dozens of Nirvana demos (I wish other bands had as many demos preserved and made public, not sure why Nirvana is the lucky one that has an endless amount) and Korn. I always liked the song “Blind”, as a kid I was amused by it. It was never really my favorite Korn song, but I liked it fine. But this demo. It’s just so much better than the album version. Demo versions usually are better than the album versions, but especially in this case. It’s so much more deranged sounding. Especially when the music stops and Johnathan Davis just goes “I can seeeeeeeeee” like a bad impression of a witch or something. I love it. So much more raw energy than the polished album version. And that’s what I usually like better about demos in general. The pure, raw emotion that goes into them sometimes.
