The ever-popular "Currently Listening" thread

Are we sticking to "textbook" goth (Bauhaus or bust), or is ethereal goth allowed? I can offer up a good bit of that.

Also, there's a Live365 station I dabble with that might interest y'all: From Dust. It ranges from quasi-industrial to renaissance folk, but the majority of it would probably be called a modern electro take on the Bauhaus formula.
 
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oh shit, youre missing out on some epic gothic rock if you stopped at Mask!

Try out Bela Lugosi's Dead, Dark Entries or The Passion of Lovers. That's off the Best of, but "the sky's gone out" has some great stuff too.

Oh, they've definently done some great songs (I like She's In Parties too), I just didn't like Mask as an album. And I've kind of grown out of that kind of music since then. For good or bad, I have far less patience with music nowadays. Probably more for the bad since I miss out on bands. Though my patience used to be the result of my idea that having listening to difficult bands meant that I had sophisticated taste. I have since then grown out of such sillyness (IE I don't care how sophisticated my taste is, I just bother with if I like something or not).

In short, I don't try to listen to obscure goth bands from the 80's for the simple reason that they're "honest" and "edgy".

Are we sticking to "textbook" goth (Bauhaus or bust), or is ethereal goth allowed? I can offer up a good bit of that.

Feel free to provide some prime example (I've always been a fan of knowing which album to buy), in the world of Spotify the worst that can happen is that you waste my time. :)

Listening to the last good Depeche album by the way.

Übereil
 
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Textbook goth is cool, but I can branch out a little here and there, a lot of bands have different influences and flavors like FOTN has western-like feel to it at times. I guess "gothic rap" would be a big no-no, lets stay away from that and forget I even mentioned it before someone gets any awful ideas.
 
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Over the years I have put Different Trains - Electric Counterpoint from Steve Reich in my CD player to hear what friends thought of it.
Strangely enough no one liked it (except me). No one liked Philip Glass either BTW (except me).

Anyw way here's a part of
Steve Reich - Different Trains

Edit: added 'except me' x 2
 
Blame me. ;)

"Love is Like a Rock" by Donnie Iris
(couldn't find the old MTV video, so I went with this one which scores a few geek points)

Edit- Wow, so real blasts from the past popped up on the related vids:
Aldo Nova

Everyone knows the first video on MTV was the Buggles. Not so many people know the second video on MTV.
Saga (20 years ago, I could play keyboard like that. So much rust...)
 
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10+ years of lessons, countless hours of practice, a little natural advantage of long nimble fingers, and you're good to go, Ubereil! ;)

I've barely played since college. I still do some exercises on my desk from time to time, but it's clear these old chopsticks ain't got it anymore. Man, between this line of thought and the brain gymnastics thread, I'm getting a little depressed. I had some mad skilz as a kid and now I'm just a worn out dumbass manufacturing engineer. Seems like a bit of a waste.
 
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I was checking Projekt.com for an update on Makaras Pen and I think I found something Sammy will enjoy. Gothy, violins, a little middle eastern.

"Earthquake at Versailles" by The Changelings
 
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"the same deep water as you", quintessential Cure

DT - pretty cool stuff there, I'll have to give it a deeper listen in the days to come
 
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I liked it. And I like Philip Glass too.

And Laurie Anderson

And Can

O, I really love Laurie Anderson, got several CDs.

Can… hm, dunno… I had never heard of them, I have listened to Chain reaction, the link you provided, but I don't like the electric guitar. But I'll listen to some more Can. Thanks.
 
It wouldn't be possible since the cd doesn't come out until June, but I might have imagined that I came into a signed copy of the upcoming release from my good friends. It's all that and a big bag of BBQ Fritos, folks. Who knows, if they catch a break or two, they just might hit it big.

Makaras Pen
 
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Still on my Cure kick, tho still listening to Disintegration at least 3 times a day, I'm now listening to their "Pornography" cd as well, which I never got into either.

It's pretty good, different, slightly angrier at times. It sounds different too, far more drum-oriented than the overwhelming synth/guitar harmonics of Disintegration. I like it.

I really like the crazy amount of reverb on the vocals that Smith uses at times on both cds, cant really describe what the efffect. Otherworldly? Dreamlike? Fading and echoing thru time? I dont know, but it definitely helps to give the music an added depth that really hits home. Glad I chose to explore these two cds, I quit listening to them after the absolutely awful "kiss me x3" that I bought. I of course was always a fan of the "collection" that has all their well known stuff, and had owned Head on a Door and Japanese Whispers before, but Disintegration is a truly unique cd. I hope Pornography opens up to me as well, tho I can already tell it's nowhere near the quality of Disintegration.
 
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Ah, The Cure! Have you broken into my house and taken a close look at my CD collection? You'll be starting with Depeche Mode next, even if you don't know it at the moment!

There are six good songs on Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. Torture (great song), Why Can't I Be You, All I Want, One More Time, Fight and, of couse, Just Like Heaven (which happens to be my favorite song of all time). It's acually the last Cure album I've gotten, and what surprized me is how poor it is lyrically. Apart from Just Like Heaven there aren't any really good lyrics (well, Fight's gets bonus points for the message, and the first verse is good). This perplexes me since I've always thought of Robert Smith as a really good lyricist. That's probably because my first two Cure albums were Disintegration (great lyrics upon great lyric, that one) and Wish (more simplistic lyrics for the most part, but still loads of great ones there and the concept lyrics works, unlike on Kiss Me...), so those are what shaped my view of his lyrical abilities. What have struck me after having heard their entire work is that this ability isn't something he always had, it's something he developed over the years. He showed promise on Faith but after that he fumbled for most of the 80's before blossoming on Disintegration.

Another thing that's struck me is that they were an entirely different band pre-Disintegration. Disintegration took them back to the vein of Faith (which, if you don't have it, should be your next stop, Faith is a great album, better than Pornography) with a sprawling and atmospheric sound, and since that's where I started I thought that had always been the Cure sound. But that's not quite true. In between Faith and Disintegration (which is a large chunk of their career) they had a more primitive, straight forward sound. Apart from Head on the Door this sound was quite dark more often than not, but it was always primitive with focus on multi-layered arrangements with plenty of melodies. For the most part it was clever, catchy pop that went from cute to... not so cute?. When it's not (meaning, most of Kiss Me and occasionally on The Top) it's a mess.

I could tell you to listen to them but what would be the fun in that? :rolleyes:

Übereil
 
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Not sure I completely agree with Ubereil's analysis, but I will agree that your next stop on the Cure tour should be Faith. You haven't mentioned Standing on a Beach (pre-Disintegration greatest hits), which is pretty much mandatory. If you continue to get into it, you're in luck that supposedly this year they're going to release a DVD version of "In Orange". I've carefully rationed my use of my VHS copy of that concert, but the tape is showing some use. That concert was part of the Head on the Door tour, so it gives you a great taste of the older stuff.

Pornography is an interesting trip. The best tracks don't get much notice, although they tend to get played live quite a bit since fans love em- "Short Term Effect" and "A Strange Day". Of course, you've got to consider the supposed trilogy angle, even though I tend to think that was a "manufactured" angle designed to promote Bloodflowers (supposedly Pornography, Disintegration, and Bloodflowers are linked), which didn't have much going for it on its own merits.
 
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Standing on a beach was the "collection" that i mentioned, im pretty hip to all their hits and more mainstream stuff. Now im all about going back and really exploring the wealth of good music left undiscovered in my teen years. Thanks for the Faith tip!

Yeah, ill agree that Just Like Heaven holds a special place and always will, but the rest of that cd just ends up sounding like its being sung from the view of a 14 year old girl or something. Just cant relate
 
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