DIRTY BLACK SUMMER III: SUMMER DYING FAST

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 272021
 

 

(We’ve previously published (here and here) two installments of a “dirty black summer” playlist compiled and written by Neill Jameson (Krieg, Poison Blood), and now we’re happy that he’s followed that with a third set of recommendations for your summer listening, presented below.)

I hadn’t really planned on revisiting this series quite so soon but there were a few releases I missed last time and a few coming up that I wanted to shed a little light on, so here we are. There’s a few gloomier bits and some hints of the upcoming autumn in here which should help those of you who get a pumpkin spiced hard-on right after the Fourth of July get a bit of a fix in. Continue reading »

PLAYLIST FOR DRAMATIC TIMES (BY NEILL JAMESON)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Mar 182020
 

 

(We’re grateful to Neill Jameson (Krieg, Poison Blood), and hopefully you will be too, for sharing the following list of musical suggestions to help us get through the current “end of the world” times.)

So I’m sure we can agree that it’s been an interesting week or two recently and because of it a lot of you are going to be stuck indoors for a bit. And as much as we like to complain we don’t get enough time to ourselves, when it’s forced upon us it somehow feels more like an inconvenience than an opportunity. And unless you’re one of those assholes running to crowded places to prove that you’re invincible against the powers of the NWO you’re probably going to stay at home like a proper facsimile of a responsible adult. So I figured that even though I’m somehow considered “essential” at my job, I wanted to do something to contribute to easing the cabin fever that’s going to set in for the rest of you; you can build a monument to my altruism later.

I’ve been doing a lot more musical exploring the last month or two. I can’t really explain it since I haven’t been that into seeking out new things in quite awhile, even in those years where my annual list is filled to the brim. And I’ve found a lot of things I’m enjoying, so I wanted to compile them and share them with the class, in case this helps you find something new or at least gives you something to complain about. This is going to span a few genres, the whole “something for everyone” concept, I suppose. If you end up actually digging any of this shit then consider supporting the bands or, in these fun-filled times, see if other bands and labels you enjoy are hurting because of cancellations or unemployment. Anyway, here’s some records: Continue reading »

DUNGEON SYNTH: A LIST BY NEILL JAMESON

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
May 212018
 

 

(In Part II of his 2017 year-end list for NCS, our friend Neill Jameson (Krieg, Poison Blood) devoted attention to reissues of music from the realms of dungeon synth, but here that genre is the sole focus of the following recommendations.)

 

I’m sure you’re tired of hearing about the various synth subgenres that have popped up all around metal the last few years because they don’t have guitars or whatever excuse you give when confronted with something outside of metal. I know that kept me out of checking a lot of this shit out and gave me a lot of preconceived notions (mostly true when it comes to synthwave). I’ve been a longtime devotee of early (now Era 1) Mortiis but around the time he decided to try different genre pastures I was burned out by overly symphonic and honestly overly fucking melodramatic dark ambient and really only revisited the more ambient side of things when I put on old Mortiis records or if some black metal band had a good instrumental track (i.e., Lugubrum’s earlier stuff — totally underrated and mandatory band). That was until I listened to Old Tower out of curiosity, which caused a twelve-month binge on dungeon synth. I tend to obsess over these kinds of things and dungeon synth is a genre that’s constantly expanding so I always have something to check out. Like most genres, I don’t like 75% of it but what I do like, I really dig into.

Anyway thanks for sticking around for that needless exposition. The cliff notes version for anyone wanting to skip ahead is here’s another list I’ve submitted, this time with some dungeon synth you might not be too aware of and might be interested in checking out. Unlike most times I make these lists I’d actually love for readers to post suggestions for me to check out.

The best resource I’ve found for the genre is The Dungeon Synth Archives on YouTube, which seems to update every day. I’ve also noticed that Tour De Garde, Hollow Myths, and Out of Season generally knock it out of the park with their releases in the genre, plus Tour De Garde constantly releases black metal of high quality, which is a bonus if you have money to burn on something you won’t hate. Continue reading »