GǼG 

Merpa 

Optimo Music 

 

Formed by Tokyo’s king of the underground disco scene, Disko Klubb boss Monkey Timers and the world-famous producer Keita Sano, GǼG take the chemistry of the times and make brand new materials. Out on Optimo Music, the Anarcho Disco double A side volume one and two gets its delivery. The pressing includes the Halloween favourite Merpa that has a spooky feel we can enjoy every day of the year. Reinventing the disco underground with electronic mastery and rhythmic intuition, GǼG put the resistance in the circuit with their anarchy inspired compositions.  

 

A clunking rhythm aligns with clicks and cowbell that opens out in hypnotic rivers of percussive direction. Effects layer in with deft timings and introspective samples that take the atmosphere from light to dark. Then a sudden impulse of rhythm attends the drum. Bouncing and deep bass tones hit the pulse with jumping insistency. The sound of evil laughter then curls from the stereo with pained breaths expelling various levels of malevolence. Synths add to the mix as the persistent and continual percussion hammer in with the loops of drum, bass, and effect. A break in the drums then takes it to another level of melody as tonal wood chimes begin to spell a crafty tune. The laughter continues as the rhythm rises with new breaks and experimental plunges of sampling.  Exciting and frightening, in a fun ghost house way, the spooky effects and surging rhythms work together to make a darkwave rainbow we can dance, drive, or do the housework to.  

You can find music by GǼG on Bandcamp

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If you're reading this then you have the tools to begin learning how to make your own electronic music. Here's a great book to start with: How To Make Electronic Dance Music: A Beginner's Guide

Phil Mac 
Shiftin’ 
Stray Cat Records 
 
Fans of Phil Mac will remember the clown making an appearance right at the end of his last music video. Perhaps you took it on face value, ascribed it to art, and thought no more about it. Well, you need to be more adventurous if you’re going to second guess this hip-hop artist from the UK. This new video is all about Halloween, the creepy clown, and down-right decent music. It’s only a few days until All Hallows’ Eve, when the veil between this world and the next becomes thin. As a manifestation of the fears, vices, and unconscious twists within the Bristol-based rap artist, Phil demonstrates how he finds freedom from his demons through art, mentality, and progress. Out on Stray Cat Records just in time for Halloween, here is the spooky Shftin’ from Phil Mac. 

The video starts with spooky synth sounds and an atmospheric build-up. A rhythmic melody then breaks out from the smoke. Drums rattle and shake with catchy lo-key beats. A thump of kick brings out the vocal, Phil Mac starts his poetry. The lines fit in slim rap bars that spit and rhythm in laid-back insistency. A subtle melody in Phil’s voice gives rise to dramatic rises in the flow as the music evolves behind the scenes and reaches new layers without us noticing. Listening to the story, the driving pulse of hip-hop sits tight and keeps the tempo tight as the various lines lean this way and that with their human flow.  
 
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Federale 
Dark Waters 
Jealous Butcher Records
 
Taking inspiration from groups like Echo and the Bunnymen, Sisters Of Mercy, and Love and Rockets, the Portland-based post-punk deathrock band Federale conjure Dark Waters. Taken from their sixth album, Reverb & Seduction, the record is also a milestone for their well-deserved 20th Anniversary. Keeping it real for two decades and six albums is no easy job, and staying in the focus of the crowd is even more challenging. Dark Waters and its following album prove that Federale are more than up for the adventure. Brushing away the cobwebs and casting sigils in the dust, Federale explore the gothic corridors of sound while constructing their own wing to the global mansion of the morose.  
 
An eerie silene builds before a wave of guitar and drum begins to process the chords. A vibrant melody radiates from the vibing harmonies within the strings and drum. Then the vocal enters, deep and resonant, a howling wind feel mixes with humanity as the story paces the direction and flow. Gusty and cornering, the song pushes through the spooky architecture like crisped leaves once ush and now tensile and parched. A roaring sense of movement carries the music through its sections with elements of change chopping up the pattern with doses of extra shade and light.   

​Find out more on the Federale website

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I guess you could call this disenlightening: The Art of Darkness: The History of Goth
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European Tour Dates

10/31 Perpignan, FR at @lenautilusperpignan
11/01 Zaragoza, ES at @la_lata_de_bombillas 
11/02 Lugo, ES at @clubclavicembalo 
11/03 Madrid, ES at @wurlitzerballroom 
11/04 Leon, ES at @conciertos.club 
11/05 Gijon, ES at @teatrojovellanos 
11/06 Paris, FR at @supersonicclub 
11/07 Dortmund, DE at @restaurant_pferdestall_ 
11/08 Berlin, DE at @synaesthesiefestival at @8mmbar 
11/09 Malmö, SE at Wildwood Festival at @planbmalmo 
11/10 Oslo, NO at @goldieoslo 
11/11 Stockholm, SE at @slaktkyrkan 
11/12 Goteborg, SE at @hangmattan_majorna 
11/14 Bern, CH at @lesamis.bern 
11/15 Siena, IT at @sonar.colle 
11/16 Ravenna, IT at @bronsonproduzioni 

Jesse Daniel Edwards 
Jesus And Other Drugs 
Clap Trap Venus 
 
Born in a small town in California, country rock and folk singer-songwriter Jesse Daniel Edwards makes a move away from Violensia, his previous critically acclaimed record. From his busking days on the street corners of hometown Cuyamaca, the resilient and reliable talent of Edwards has continually pushed the limits of what he can perform. This time, with Clap Trap Venus out on Cavity Search Records, Jesse Edwards brings home a vocal and emotional album with links to feeling, reality, and the dynamics between strangers. Taking on a method acting role, the artist recreates various personalities through the course of the record, each one exploring factors and ideas that grow from Jesse’s mind. Now living in the home of country and western music, Nashville Tennessee, the long road at home and abroad has taken his sound from dusty doorways to landmarks most upstarts can only dream of.  
 
A rolling guitar expands like a hillside at dawn. Projections of geography rise from the light as creation reveals itself upon the turning of the Earth. A honey drenched voice then pours with shiny effervescence across the homely and expertly manicured guitar tune. Humble string plucks revolve around the key changes with poetic lines about finding happiness in religion. Choosing to find peace in your own way, the music reflects a passageway of complex yet memorable patterns that take the song from start to finish.  
 
​Find out more on the Jesse Daniel Edwards website​

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Maybe your library could do with a copy of this: Nashville Chronicles: Tracing the Roots of Country Music

Noopinion 

2000 Years 

SBAM Records 

 

Brash and boisterous, German punk outfit Noopinion rage on with another swanky album release. The lead single comes in the form of 2000 Years. With a great video to watch, their noughties skater-punk sound continues the party into the beyond. Their reputation for relentless touring and the character testing of their humble van, the process is about to begin all over again. Since forming in 1998, the band have managed to record 5 amazing albums and played live at over 2500 venues. They’ve done it all on their own steam, with the help of die-hard fans who refuse to use Pirate Bay out of respect for the artists. Now a veteran sound, their levels of skill remain at the top bar with every instance giving it a little further push.  

 

It begins with a slow and dirty riff that hammers in the timesheet. Next comes a fast-paced rip through the structure as the drums double up and the hollering vocals enter. Harmonising yells and huge guitar punch through the beats as the searing snare jabs holes in the air with immediate precision. A crazy energy launches each line into oblivion as the mixture of skilful musicianship and coursing voice culminate in a crash through the wall while still standing. 

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New tricks or Nostalgia, some of these skateboard designs are really cool.
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The Yets 
Define The Man 
South Carolina 
 
The latest single from their debut LP, The Yets give us Define The Man. Pinup Girl will be unleashed on the masses early next year, and it stands as a fundamental follow-up to last year’s cerebral hit self-titled EP. They hail from Myrtle Beach in sunny South Carolina, headed up by guitar-hero Craig Anderson Snook of Gross Negligence and vocal sensation Robin Wilson of Skirt and Batchelors of Art. Define The Man is written about the labyrinthine feelings women can experience when looking for men they can trust. With media and opinion at loggerheads as to whether being male is inherently bad, whether you can trust any man at all, and if a man with feelings of attraction is natural or perverse, how can you navigate this nonsense? Is it any wonder a small percentage of men are denying their gender? I’ll tell you something, that man they say they hate and want to bash, that’s not me either. Men are human beings, and they come in all shapes and sizes, emotionally and physically. Being able to define this is becoming increasingly difficult. I’m sure this song has a lot to say, and from a completely different perspective to mine. I can’t wait to hear it.  
 
It begins with a lush surf of guitar and drum lap rushes past our ears in kinetic free-flowing motion. Melody leans out from the mass of sound with chord inflections and progressive changes. Robin begins to sing; her emotive voice splashes generous soul across the atmosphere like dowsing of luxurious oils. A dream-pop tone is revealed as sensual resonance flashes within the powerful structure. The dancing clarity leaps from fluffy undertones and vibrant tone. Luminous music shines in harmony and rhythm as the heavenly compositions lurch onward into passion and flesh with moving motifs of sonic drama.  

​You can find music by The Yets on Bandcamp

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Cutting edge reading: Rethinking the Psychoanalysis of Masculinity: From Toxic to Seminal

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