October 2010
8 posts
2 tags
I WHIP MY BLOG BACK AND FORTH
“gothic is the new hip-hop” - Lil B
So I’m sure ya’ll have noticed that updates on this have been sporadic at best. Moving to Berlin at the end of December, working on various other projects, and frankly I just don’t have the time to do a blog by myself, the way I feel it ought to be done. Which means Better Than Sex is going bye-bye.
OR IS IT. Well it is, in this...
2 tags
CLICK HERE TO LOSE AN ENSLAVED IPOD
Strip Mall Seizures is one of those band it seems like I’ve loved forever. Maybe it’s just how timeless they sound; thrashed-out trashed-out art punk never goes out of style, so when I hear that they’ve released a new album I get excited. I get real excited, son, and you should be too. These kids have been releasing some of the best punk tunes for over a decade in various...
3 tags
APOPALYPTIC
Fell in love with Sofia Senna by way of my new jizz Gucci Goth when one of my killers posted this amazing video. Holocaust beats flow syrupy-hot while basement beauties twerk. No links and no MP3s yet but soon; in the meantime get ready for electric body explosions.
2 tags
BE MY VICTIM
Moving to the violent side of visual life, here’s the new video for the always-intriguing Foot Village’s ‘Lovers With Iraqis’. More thoughtful and less flashy, the brute noisepunk force of their power combined with scenes of torture and madness leave you feeling uneasy and restless.
2 tags
ON THE PLAYGROUND
Style. Substance. Flow. My girl Rye Rye has it all, and when you combine it with the hater-proof power of M.I.A. you get something truly timeless. Evoking memories of hot sidewalks and after-school hangouts, ‘Sunshine’ will make you believe in never-ending summer.
3 tags
HAPPY BEING SAD
As the weather grows colder, I find myself breaking out the minimal bleak-pop more and more, and this fits the menu perfectly. Happy Corners is the new project of Victor (Venezuela) and Maeve (Argentina), their songs beautiful in their melancholy simplicity. ‘Honey Echoes’ is my favorite, an aching waltz through the crisp leaves of love-struck psychosis. They’re expecting to...
4 tags
BLOOD LIFE
Live visuals from Amanda Brown’s amazing L.A. Vampires project. Dubby underwater ghost-folk, just how we like it.
3 tags
BODY HAMMER
I’ve been wrapped up in my own world and sitting on way too much stuff and not posting stuff I said I would and for that I’m sorry. I Am Unreliable. Just way too much on my mind and I keep locking myself up with Lil B and chronic and just making art and trying to decide between Berlin and NYC and just ugh. But this I gotta talk about. Mr. Manic is the project of Kyle McKay, a...
September 2010
15 posts
4 tags
MASKING TAPES
R. Stevie Moore, your mutant children are beautiful. Superstar & Star has to be the discovery of the month. At least. I know next to nothing about this guy but he’s from the shitty town I grew up in and he’s got the same vibe as Tonetta and that’s aces in my book. VHS mental funktronic music that you can buy from him personally at his Youtube channel or website. Truly...
3 tags
POP WARD
Denver’s Colin Ward has released an insane amount of stuff under his alphabets moniker, but he’s about to get mad exclusive with his output. Future major releases are planned to be released only on Laserpalace, so enjoy the big freebies while you can! Here’s a special preview of two new tracks, a combination of glitchy twerked-up electronics and manipulated pop vocals....
4 tags
COSMIC POOL PARTY
The musicians of Denver fuel my soul in various ways, but Hideous Men have always been a band I don’t know much about. This new video reveals all: Hideous Men are about:
»>Space«<
»>Magic Spells«<
»>Colors«<
»>Being Amazing«<
2 tags
OKAY, HERE'S THE THING
1 tag
THE BIG COMBINATION
I haven’t posted any witchy stuff lately because….uh, not much to post I guess? Honestly I’ve just been listening to Ghost Town DJs and electrohouse (remember that stuff? It still exists!) non-stop. Thankfully ✝ NO VIRGIN ✝ was kind enough to send me his brand new track so we can all get our suspiria visions on. Heavy 808s, heavy atmosphere. I hear church bells ringing, I hear...
2 tags
HANGUPS
Apartment hunting in Brooklyn has been an exercise in depression and has kept me from doing multiple things including updating this blog; however I’m compelled to mention this new demo collab from LA’s Nguzunguzu and my old favorite LE1F. Odd that such a bleak, clicking slab of ghosted-out hip-hop could be one of the things keeping me from spiralling into black helplessness but these...
3 tags
REX GLORIAE
Oh hey. It’s me, The Cool Bro. Finally back in Brooklyn and enjoying basically everything. USA #1. One of my main menu choices right now is the mutant sounds of LA’s Pet Sex (Rex) (formerly Marfa & Ne-af,) two of my favorite Cali people who I’ve been wanting music from for a while now. Pure weirdo pop, syntho-monsterchistic jams to get the mental blood flowing down...
4 tags
NEVER ENOUGH
Sorry about the coitus interruptus; I’m heading back to NYC from Berlin in a few days and busy busy busy. Updates when I get back but in the meantime here’s the spacey new video for Geneva Jacuzzi’s ‘Space Heater’. Martian desert sex on Olympus Mons? Blast off for the mons venus.
3 tags
FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLL
I know, I know. I’ve been riding the GHE20 GOTHIK dillz hard lately. What can I say, these guys got my attention. Tomorrow, something totally different, word is bond but I’d be a dang fool not to mention the new GG mix from Total Freedom. Darker by far than their last mixtape, this one is bypasses the retro-rave for straight hood vibes. Creep-hop takes center stage this Halloween...
3 tags
GLITTER PLANET
Anyone in LA will know the name Fancy Space People, but those of us in other climes are just beginning to get a clue. Their psychedelic immensity is due in part to the fact that they’re made up of some of LA’s Weirdo Cognesceti. Names like Nora Keyes and Don Bolles shouldn’t be new to anyone, but then there’s artist/musician Emily Blong of My Velcroe and graphic artist...
4 tags
IN LIVING COLOR
I was catching up on blogs when I stumbled across this post from Mishka. Eerie parallels to the last few weeks of my life, from the ’90s rave up to discovering Redlight the other day. When I saw the video for ‘What You Talking About’ I yelled “HOLY SHIT” so loud I woke up my German friend and got yelled at in German (I’m still trapped in Europe, by the way.)...
3 tags
90210H GOD
It’s a video day! This is the beautiful ButterClock’s new one, featuring her track ‘Beverly Hills’ and with visuals by Black Swan. If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like inside my head, this is as close as you can come without surgery.
3 tags
I WANT WHAT EVERYBODY WANTS
Beautiful new live video from the always-impressive Tearist. I think I used the same piece of scrap metal in my own band…..
5 tags
YOU CAN DANCE TO IT
Damn, what can I say. It’s been a slow few days, not much to write about except a few key leaks and such and I’m stuck indoors with only a copy of 28 Gun Bad Boy to keep me company. So it’s another dance mixtape, from me to you. A bit of Chicago house and a newer cut from the awesome Spoek Mathambo, but mainly some of my fave late ’80s/early ’90s rave, with some...
2 tags
AGAIN AND AGAIN
Yeah, I know I’m late writing about this one, but it ain’t about the race, it’s about the style. Which is something Brenmar has in spades. Not only is he one-third of ever-evolving ghost punks These Are Powers, he’s also making some of the best remixes and club music in NYC. After soundtracking the summer with his banging 24K Mix and DJing as part of the GHE20 GOTHIK...
August 2010
17 posts
2 tags
LIGHT UP THE NIGHT
I’ve mentioned Daniel Fisher AKA Physical Therapy before here; his heavy remix of Alicia Keys’ ‘Unthinkable’ has become one of my favorite songs of the year, and I’ve thrown a few of his other tracks in various mixes. The man is adept as hell at twisting pop into just the right combination of tense vibes and melancholic dance, one of the reasons he’s part of...
3 tags
WITCH WAY DO WE GO FROM HERE?
When witch house hit this year, it hit big. Or as big as a blog-derived genre can get, anyway. Suddenly everyone was gothing out and pretending they knew what purple drank was. Bigger dudes like Pitchfork, Drowned In Sound and even freakin’ Warren Ellis started being all, “Hey, guys: NEW THING” and that paved the way for more people to download Wavepad and copy/paste a symbol...
3 tags
SHARPEN YOUR FANGS
London synthpunks TEETH have been wowing me with their bouncy, noisy goodness for a couple years, but with their new single ‘See Spaces’ they’ve created something truly beautiful. Veronica So has channeled her vocals into something more dream than scream, and the result has me melting in my chair. Check out their new video below, and get the 7” single from Moshi Moshi.
...
2 tags
DODECAHEDRON
Four months of touring have left me mentally fried. Downtime is needed but posts will resume shortly.
5 tags
MORONI MAKEOUTS
Mixtape Time ends with a (gang)bang via the Hottt Slutttz from Gay Mormon Kissing Club. No more I love yous, just a sweet sweet fantasy baby. Also, remember yousendit? Totally forgot it exists but that’s what they sent it via and I think that’s adorable.
MP3:
Number3ofGays
4 tags
CHEAP LOVE
ButterClock collaborator Emily Church aka SBK has created a mini-mixtape just for Better Than Sex! Proving she’s just as clever with pop mutations as she is with the dreamy visuals she employs, Emy drags together r’n’b and hip-hop into a tricked-out tone perfect for casual satisfaction. Chewy + cheap American Luv, SBK-style. We luv it too.
MP3:
Secret Love Aƒfair
2 tags
JOINT
Two teenage boys from South Africa. Words that don’t necessarily conjure up the phrase ‘sub-tribal elevator music from hell’ but then Le Elbow are full of mysteries. Almost no web presence, and each bit of information I can find seems to contradict the last. Are they 8bit horror movie scorers churning out Excite-Bike rallies down Dead Man’s Curve? Are they witch house so...
5 tags
P.L.U.R.PLE DRANK
This is going to be a Mixtape Weekend! This one is a sweet little mix dedicated to my love of green goodness, early ’90s dance and rave, and some of my fave sounds from the Nows. It’s all about the damn love.
DOWNLOAD SMOKE R4VE EVERYDAY
featuring
SMOKER FACE INTRO
NEOPHYTE - WE LIKE MARIHUANA (PHYSICAL THERAPY EDIT)
ACTRESS - ALWAYS HUMAN
ZOMBY - NEED UR LOVIN’
GAT...
2 tags
AND I FEEL LIKE I'M THE SHIT, YEAH THAT'S MY...
Todays blog entry is about…me! Ahhaha, I own. Recently when I was in Lithuania, I was inteviewed along with my friend Polina. Topics included me, this blog, me, Witch House, me, my m8s, me, dog farts etc. This is a link to the interview, with my chunks starting about 2/3rds down the page, and after the cut is the interview in English. Keep in mind this was translated from English into...
2 tags
WOLVES AMONG US
My favorite Québécois noisemakers AIDS Wolf have been fine-tuning their destructive properties since becoming a three-piece, and this fall they’re releasing themselves upon America once more to promote their upcoming album March To The Sea. More angular riffs and screeches than ever before, the album looks to be a sonic punch to the jaw that will leave you sweaty and wrecked. They’re...
2 tags
FEELSICK
SANAFU is a witchy new young artist from India evoking the great god of the 808s. He’s created a new mixtape that perfectly captures the gray Brighton weather surrounding me right now. As I lie in bed, coughing and slipping into a Benadryl-induced slumber, my mind conjures up looming end-times monsters. Get down with the sickness.
MP3:
FRIDAY †HA 13TH
2 tags
PUTTING THE RAVE BACK IN YOUR GRAVE
I’d never heard of Scooter before I went to Germany a few years ago, but I suspect it doesn’t sound nearly as good as this. Thankfully ℑ⊇≥◊≤⊆ℜ and Cosmotropia de Xam are around to turn it into a drugged-n-dragged flesheating floorkiller. This monster is going to be appearing on the next installment of their incredible Zombie Rave mixtape series, out in less than a week! Keep your...
2 tags
I WEAR BLACK YA'LL
If you’ve been following good music in any capacity then you already know How To Dress Well. The German wunderkind has been creating some of the dreamiest, ghosted-out lo-fi R’n’B I’ve ever heard, and I was frankly shocked at myself when I realized I hadn’t mentioned him before on here. Forty whacks with a wet noodle, Bart. Now that he’s getting ready to...
3 tags
POPPA DON'T RAVE
The thing that draws me to witch house is not necessarily the dark aspects of it, or even my love of screw and juke, but rather the appreciation of pop music on a warped level. This tendency to reconstruct Top 40 hits and old R&B into mindbenders works on several levels: it satisfies my love of pop (something that grows as I age, more ‘Bobblehead’ than ‘Beachy Head’...
4 tags
WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED
I love starting my weekend with something throbbingly beautiful, and London’s Meddicine is the perfect prescription. Short and violent slabs of industrialized post-punk noise provide the jagged backdrop to composer Monikka’s distorted vocals, echoes of old and new colliding into a body-bruising beauty. Take Tovey’s advice: swallow it. No spoonful of sugar needed.
MP3s:
...
4 tags
HIGH HEAT
Just in case you forgot this wasn’t a blog dedicated strictly to witch house, I bring you the one-woman lo-fiisms of Ant Parade. Hailing from the god-forsaken hole that is Florida (one-time resident so I know what I’m talking about) Brigid represents the duality of how this sort of thing usually goes. She’ll lure you into a false sense of security with sweet melodies and lovely...
4 tags
MUSH MOUTH
Today has me melting for the wailing witchiness of Valentina Mushy. Emerging from Rome’s shadows like some twisted Dario Argento siren, she weaves a bellissimo incubo of Pocahauntings fit for the grandest of okkvlt ritvals. She also works with one of my fave video/noisemakers Mater Suspiria Vision, and they’ve recently released a few videos of their collaborations. Check out my...
July 2010
12 posts
1 tag
STARS IN YOUR EYES
LA-based artist Calla Donofrio creates spaced-out psychedelic collages culled from ancient magazines and exercise books. Provoking dreams of strange temples dedicated to okkvlt workouts and burning your soul slow.
2 tags
TRAPPED IN PARADIIS
Ever since my heady days in Paris I’ve been sipping on the champagne sounds of Rikslyd. Sweet, sexy, and oh-so-dreamy are the key words here, luscious drops of electro-pop served chilled by the lovely Diis Paradiis. Even if you’re not wandering down the streets of the 11th arrondissement, this is perfect music for an early-night’s scheming and dreaming.
MP3s:
Amisexy
My...
3 tags
SWEET SWEET FANTASY BABY
I don’t know much
but I know I
love you
2 tags
MESS MAKER
Sweden’s Oreda is all across the board with his sounds; hitting club-ready electro with a banging Death In June reimagining and riding the chillwave on ‘Stressed Out’, but two of his songs really blew me away. ‘Wake Up’s Arabic-inspired wails and throbbing beat was like the sinister ClubKid cousin of Rainbow Arabia, while ‘Going To The Sea’ channels...
3 tags
ASH FRIDAY
Oh Marnie. You make me believe in rock and roll again. Your mind-altering guitar riffs made me melt when I first played In Advance Of The Broken Arm, and you injected me with thrumming adrenaline when I heard This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That (even if I refuse to say the title aloud.) Now I hear you’re releasing a...
2 tags
OCEANS OF FUN
Never-ending love for Zola Jesus. With one EP she went from lo-fi wailer to hi-frightening seductress. Naturally she’s well-prepared for Halloween with her follow-up to Stridulum, the appropriately-named Stridulum II. Check out the link below to download ‘Sea Talk’, a beautifully re-recorded track from her Tsar Bomba album.
MP3:
Sea Talk
Stridulum II is out October 12th...
3 tags
NOISE AND LIGHT
Experimental Swedish post-punkers Kriget have recently released a video for their track ‘What A Day’. Ethereal dancing girls and skronky saxophones and prisms seen through an acid haze. Beautiful!
4 tags
LOHANDED
I love pop, and I love warped weirdness. Tri Angle has captured the spirit of both in a new free mixtape, wherein bands like Oneohtrix Point Never, oOoOO, and Laurel Halo do bizarre reinterpretations of Lindsay Lohan tunes. Together with these NIKE7UP remixes, I’ve been having a Bizzaro Pop day, freefloating through a perfect world where there’s no such thing as normal and The Normal...
2 tags
UNITED COLORS
I’ve endure way too many sweltering, unairconditioned buses and trains on this tour; thankfully Unison are icy relief. They’ve already got blogs dripping with lust thanks to their outstanding remix of White Ring’s ‘Suffocation’, but the French duo of Julien and Melanie will make you positively gush with their debut EP Outside. Crackling menace haunts their every...
3 tags
BAT BLING
I can’t believe I haven’t written about one of my absolute favorite nights in NYC yet. GHE20 GOTHIK is everything a true darq s0ul could want. Hosted by the lovely Venus X and featuring some amazing guest DJs (including Pictureplane’s Travis Edgy, Dutch E Germ from Gang Gang Dance, and Brenmar of These Are Powers) as well as a regular crew of spin-spectres, this is THE place to...
