In search of gothic, darkwave, industrial, and related music.

June 24, 2009 11:43 PM

I host a gothic/industrial radio show, but I've taken a break as I ran out of ideas. Please suggest any suitable bands, labels, blogs, or other sources of inspiration. More details inside.

I've hosted an hour-long gothic/industrial/darkwave/etc. show on the local college radio station a few times over the years, but I usually stop after a quarter or two (3-6 months). I have a few old playlists online:

* Jan. 11, 2009
* Dec. 10, 2008
* Nov. 17, 2008
* Nov 10, 2008
* Oct. 27, 2008
* Oct 19, 2008
* Oct 12, 2008

I tend to lean towards the electronic/new industrial side of things, but I like proper gothic stuff. My wife knows more of that realm, and she co-hosts, so some playlists are more into the gothic side things. Common bands include VNV Nation, Wolfsheim, Coil, Ministry, Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, Skinny Puppy, Projekt Pitchfork, Siouxsie / Creatures, Depeche Mode, Dead Can Dance, Cranes. Labels include Projekt, Metropolis, old Wax Trax!, random Cleopatra stuff, and more. The station has an impressive back-catalog of 1990s-era industrial and the like, but it's buried amongst indie rock from the past years, too.

posted by filthy light thief to Media & Arts (35 answers total)

You could have a look at the fantastic and prolific David 'Thrusta' Thrussell, and his bands Snog and Black Lung.
posted by pompomtom at 11:51 PM on June 24, 2009

Electro-industrial / industrial rock tracks:
:Wumpscut: - Voodoo Void
Oghr - Water
Sheep on Drugs - Rip It Up
Brain Leisure - I Know A Place
16 Volt - And You Are All Alone Again
Cyanotic - Alt.Machine
Zombie Girl - The Darkness

Experimental/Technoid:
Stendeck - Like Falling Crystals
5F_55 - Vroom! 41 42 4F 58 45
Hysteresis - Noadrenaline
Talvekoidik - Hymn
ESA - Cursing
Gridlock - retina (individual totem remix)
Speedy J - Actor Nine

Old industrial tracks that need more love:
Deathride 69 - Drop The Needle
Mentallo and The Fixer - Goliath
Spahn Ranch - Heretic's Fork [Birmingham 6 Remix]
Sabotage - Reliable
Hellbent - Time
The Damage Manual - Damage Addict

Old gothier tracks that need more love:
Neon Judgement - Miss Brown
Chris & Cosey - Trust
C Cat Trance - Shake The Mind
Peter Murphy - Cascade
Delerium - Desert
Malcolm McLaren - Madame Butterfly
The Arch - Babsi Ist Tot
posted by Jairus at 12:19 AM on June 25, 2009

...also the entire album Specimen put out on Metropolis a year or two ago.
posted by Jairus at 12:23 AM on June 25, 2009

Mz.412 "Infernal Affairs"
posted by rhizome at 12:26 AM on June 25, 2009

yes! snog is one of my favourite bands!

a good place to get info on a lot of bands is the website for the Kinetik festival in Montreal - lots of great bands there. a sampling of bands featured there can be heard on my friend razorgrrl's website, where she put together some internet radio shows you can download here. Also worth looking at is ReGen magazine. Lastly, though it's a lot angrier than the stuff you listed, I can't resist adding a link to Bugs Crawling Out Of People (a label run by a really good friend of mine, that was until recently based in my basment) Check out Famine in particular - he's great.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:29 AM on June 25, 2009

Oh yea, and Oghr. damn I love Oghr
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:30 AM on June 25, 2009

Here are some artists that come to mind that I didn't see on your playlists.

EBM/industrial:

Imperative Reaction
This Morn' Omina
Informatik
Rotersand
Das Ich
Laibach
The Retrosic
Anders Manga
Frozen Plasma
System Syn
Razed in Black
E-Craft
Cut.Rate.Box
Necessary Response
Aesthetic Perfection
Seabound
Solitary Experiments
Spetsnaz
Eisbrecher
Blutengel
Cruciform Injection
De/Vision
Die Form
Red Cell
Auto-Auto

Dark ambient/drone/darkwave:

Arcana
Desiderii Marginis
Raison d'Etre
Sephiroth
Lustmord
Apoptose
Lycia
Nox Arcana
Love is Colder Than Death

You may also want to take a look at some of the artists listed at Tesco USA, Dancing Ferret, Strange Fortune, and Cold Spring.

Feel free to MeFi mail me if you'd like more specific album/track recommendations.
posted by velvet winter at 12:32 AM on June 25, 2009

Try these:

http://www.myspace.com/mentalescape
http://www.myspace.com/shintuza
posted by bostonhill at 12:50 AM on June 25, 2009

This isn't my typical genre anymore (so I'm officially out of the loop), but my one recommendation (which you may already play) is 45 Grave, specifically their cover of 'Riboflavin-Flavored Non-Carbonated Polyunsaturated Blood' (originally by Don Hinson And The Rigamorticians).
posted by Mael Oui at 1:05 AM on June 25, 2009

I definitely agree with the Snog/Black Lung reccomendation above. I'd also suggest throwing some Jim Thirwell (Foetus et. al, Steroid Maximus) into the mix. He's got a large back catalogue to pick through, so I'd reccomend tracks off of "Nail", "Null/Void", "Gash", "Flow", "Vein" to begin.

I didn't see any Covenant (Anything off of sequencer or Europa) in there, or Haujobb (Matrix, Solutions For a Small Planet) . Die Warzau (Engine)? Gridlock (anything, really. Anything)? Forma Tadre (Navigator)? Numb (Blood Meridian)? All wonderful bands.

Of course, my age shows with my reccomendations; all of this is late 90s stuff; I have no idea what the current crop of bands is like.
posted by vernondalhart at 1:38 AM on June 25, 2009

Also, if you're willing to play a bit more experimental stuff, some Muslimgauze would be a good one to throw in now and again. Bit of a large discography to pick through, though.
posted by vernondalhart at 1:39 AM on June 25, 2009

Have you ever heard of the group called 'Snake River Conspiracy'? Youtube them and you'll find some lovely stuff. They only released one cd, but I liked it.
posted by ZaneJ. at 2:52 AM on June 25, 2009

How can you have industry without Discipline?
posted by Max Power at 5:16 AM on June 25, 2009

Mandible Chatter
posted by rumsey monument at 6:12 AM on June 25, 2009

Response by poster: Luverly! Thanks one and all!

vernondalhart - I'm looking for any and all eras. I've only found stuff by stumbling about. One caller identified herself as following the gothic scene in the 1980s, which appears to have been the peak of popularity for gothic music, but I'm a bit young to have followed any of that.

Cheers!
posted by filthy light thief at 6:40 AM on June 25, 2009

Obviously, repertoire is important. But, you should also think about expanding outwardly into these musical movements and try hard to capture interest sets live from emerging artists to become the John Peel of the movement. I do not think there are many people doing this and if you can find a great station to host it while keeping your online focus you would do really well for yourself.
posted by parmanparman at 6:48 AM on June 25, 2009

Here are two thematic suggestions.

(1) Do a cover show - that is, goth bands cover other artists' songs and/or vice-versa. Some examples that immediately spring to mind (some you have already played):

Sisters of Mercy - Gimmie Shelter or Emma
Peter Murphy - Final Solution
Coil - Tainted Love
Bauhaus - Ziggy Stardust or Heartbreak Hotel

(2) Pick a few bands and play work from the various incarnations and side projects that members of the band have been involved in. Using the bandtoband website makes this a piece of cake. Some ideas:

- Sisters of Mercy / Mission / Dead or Alive (which featured Wayne Hussey for an album or two) / Generation X.
- Bauhaus / Tones on Tail / Peter Murphy solo / Love & Rockets / Jazz Butcher / Dali's Car
- Joy Division / New Order / Electronic
posted by googly at 6:49 AM on June 25, 2009

Response by poster: googly - I've done a bit of both in the past. Virgin Voices vol 1 and two are some of the more amusing comps for covers, though Cleopatra is choc full of them. Thanks for the lineage of those three groups!
posted by filthy light thief at 7:43 AM on June 25, 2009

Heres a few goth bands from the 80's that I didn't see mentioned yet.

Alien Sex Fiend
Sex Gang Children
Nightmares in Wax
The Nuns
Boys Next Door
Southern Death Cult
Gene Loves Jezebel
Ministry
Lords of the New Church
posted by Sailormom at 8:39 AM on June 25, 2009

Other resources to check out:

Noisescape TV - underground television featuring gothic, industrial, metal, electro, and alternative music. Nice range of artists, lots of live footage, and interviews.

Moving Hands Magazine - good reviews and a long list of artists
Outburn Magazine
Side-Line Magazine
Asleep by Dawn
posted by velvet winter at 9:19 AM on June 25, 2009

Whoops, sorry - that last link was borked. Try this one.
posted by velvet winter at 9:22 AM on June 25, 2009

You might get some mileage from Type O Negative and from older Rasputina. Also seconding Sailormom's suggestion of Ministry.
posted by Caduceus at 10:15 AM on June 25, 2009

You might also consider breaking up the mixtape format with special shows that focus on a particular artist, label (Wax Trax or early Nettwerk, for example), year (1986 was a particularly good vintage), or sub-genre (industrial dance). You'd be contributing a fascinating historical record for fans of the genre and the research would likely reveal a bunch of other artists and subject matter for future shows.
posted by prinado at 11:01 AM on June 25, 2009

I'm going to take on a different tack here.

Could you invite some local bands/DJs/project artists in for an hour or two, and basically have them play their favorite music from the genre? It'd give some exposure to some deserving local acts, and it'll take some pressure off of you, because they would be setting the playlist. And, you may be exposed to some music you haven't heard yet.

(Other than that, I really have no recommendations for bands; I left the Goth/EBM/Industrial scene for metal a long time ago. But if you need Black/Folk metal recs, look me up!)
posted by spinifex23 at 11:06 AM on June 25, 2009

Of course there's Raymond Watts' project "Pig", which in it's earlier days was strongly reminiscent of Foetus and has moved to sounding more like mid-era KMFDM. Also an Anna Wildsmith project he produced, "Sow" is very good, in a more abstract arty/poetry/evil noise kind of way. And to complete the porcine trifecta, there's "Pigface", Martin Atkin's industrial jam band supergroup. They have a pretty wide-ranging catalog, but I'd say the go-to albums for their best work, check out Fook, Notes From Thee Underground, and A New High In Low. Easy Listening has some good radio/club tracks on it, but it's not their strongest or most distinctive work in my opinion.

Other Invisible projects to investigate - "Damage Manual", which is Atkins, Chris Connelly, Jah Wobble, and friends; also "Evil Mothers" (Pitchforks and Perverts and Spider Sex and Car Wrecks are the ones to check out). For the more blasty-grindy-dubby sound, check out just about anything Justin Broadrick has worked on - specifically "Godflesh" for some nihilistic industrial-grind, and "Techno Animal" for some low-end bassnoise brutality with an occasional hip-hop flare - Brotherhood of the Bomb is an album that has to be heard (Justin's industrial beats with lyrics by Toastie Taylor, Rob Smith, Vast Aire, Dalek, etc). His current project is "Jesu", which is sort of superheavy shoegaze, but I'd rank it higher than just about any goth music on the bleakness scale (see also: "A Silver Mt. Zion"'s Horses in the Sky for just about the saddest music on the damn planet).

Another spectacular band is "Cyanotic" - a fusion of relentless industrial rock with breakbeats and glitchcore noise. For a lighter version of that with an almost pop-punky kind of tone, see "Rabbit Junk" (a follow-up project to the unfortunately named "The Shizzit", which was more digital hardcore kinda breaks and the like). For a more electro-sided angle on that, check out "DJ? Acucrack", which is a side project of industrial well-knowns "Acumen Nation". The So To Speak EP has a bunch of remixes from other industrial contemporaries as well that blow the dance floors away.

For the more guitarsy/electro metal end, I'd say check out "Oomph!", which is sort along the same vein as "Rammstein", "Turmion Katilot" which is super-jumpy and danceable with crushing guitars, and possibly "Red Harvest" for a more drawn out and raw sound. "Hanzel Und Gretyl" have a great supercampy feel of over-the-top Germany-and-Space idolization along with a very movable beat beneath the keyboards and guitars (see Transmission From Uranus, which is all about how awesome space is, and Uber Alles, which is all about fascist empires in a space opera). I've got tons more, when I get home I'll send you proper links to check out some of the audio easier (via that new Opera Media Server thing, provided I can get it to work.)
posted by FatherDagon at 11:22 AM on June 25, 2009

Alien Sex Fiend
Sex Gang Children
Nightmares in Wax
The Nuns
Boys Next Door
Southern Death Cult
Gene Loves Jezebel
Ministry
Lords of the New Church

I find this list amusing, because back in the '80's no one who listened to Alien Sex Fiend would be caught dead listening to Gene Loves Jezebel. Or new wave Ministry, for that matter. :) It seems like goths retroactively claimed any punk or new wave bands that were dark for their own... Anyway, the "dirge" kids back in the day would listen to the aforementioned 45 Grave, as well as Christian Death and Xmal Deutschland, which I don't see so far. You might also like Fad Gadget for early industrial/electronic, and Babyland for junk/noise/industrial.
posted by oneirodynia at 11:34 AM on June 25, 2009

Oh, and just to clarify, I'm not criticizing that list. I know they play all that stuff in goth clubs now, but having grown up among those factions, I think it's entertaining that bands whose fans would have beaten each other up (okay, would have beaten on or been beaten by each other), are lumped together nowadays.

Mephisto Waltz seems like it would fit in to the playlists you posted.
posted by oneirodynia at 11:47 AM on June 25, 2009

Response by poster: I know they play all that stuff in goth clubs now, but having grown up among those factions, I think it's entertaining that bands whose fans would have beaten each other up (okay, would have beaten on or been beaten by each other), are lumped together nowadays.

I don't live anywhere near goth or industrial clubs, and I never have. Growing up, there was one late night radio show that I heard from time to time that played "dark" music, and since then I've been searching for information online. I picked up the gothic radio show from a guy who graduated, but he took the best stuff and left me with more of the odds + ends (Swamp Terrorists, Sheep on Drugs, and then some ethereal Projekt stuff). In my attempt to extend the show beyond the same artists, I've stretched the definitions here and there, so some tracks on the playlists might look out of place.

With all these new ideas, I'll be aiming to have more division in the show (goth then industrial, not so much intermixed), but I often get the urge for something wholly different.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:38 PM on June 25, 2009

That's funny. I graduated high school in 1987 and listened to all those band and more. So did my friends.
posted by Sailormom at 12:41 PM on June 25, 2009

Response by poster: I was thinking of joining a tribute day at the station this weekend - does anyone know of gothic/industrial covers or tributes of Michael Jackson?
posted by filthy light thief at 6:12 PM on June 25, 2009

As far as covers, the closest I can come up with is that cover of 'Smooth Criminal' (Alien Ant Farm), but that's not really the sort of music you're looking for, I don't think. There's this list, but I suspect that that's very incomplete. There was another site compiling who's covered whom, but I can't seem to find it.
posted by Mael Oui at 7:57 PM on June 25, 2009

You may be interested in The Skeptics or Fetus Productions although they may be difficult to obtain in the US.
posted by Miss Otis' Egrets at 8:45 PM on June 25, 2009

Crash Worship?
posted by Afroblanco at 12:08 PM on June 27, 2009

Ayria
Front 242
Assemblage 23
Emilie Autumn
posted by Z303 at 3:48 PM on June 27, 2009

(Thanks for the Cyanotic shout-out, FatherDagon!)
posted by Jairus at 8:36 PM on June 28, 2009