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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Dead Can Dance's Resurrection


DCD came back this year with an excellent LP titled "Anastasis"
Anastasis means "resurrection" in greek. It is quite striking how many things in this new LP
refer to Greece. Brendan plays bouzouki on the record and on stage and they cover an old greek "Rembetiko" song when live ("Ime prezakias" = "I'm a junkie").
Also "Kiko" is purely based on a  "Zeibekiko" (greek traditional male dance) rhythm.
Additionally 3 more tracks from the LP bear greek words as titles.
Agape = "Love"
Anabasis = "Ascension"
Amnesia 

Greece is on the charts again...!

Here's a shot from their recent concert in North Greece...

photo by Stef Diakaki


















... and here's a handmade A4 poster from the summer of 1984 and a flyer for the same event...


























Check the funny and enthusiastic comments for the upcoming Cabaret Voltaire gig on the poster's lower part...



Stay tuned!

















Sunday, September 16, 2012

The Southern/Death/Cult family tree

A very big thanks to you all my dear readers, as we've now passed the 10.000 hits threshold...
Cheers to that!

OK back to business!
We all know that gothic rock sprang from people who were into '77 punk or related to it.
While digging in my collection I fell upon a Cult promo-cd, in which I discovered this 
family tree folio.
It was compiled by a certain Pete Frame on the behalf of Beggars Banquet. 
It is of great interest as one can see -beyond Cult fans-, details about other artists past lives!
(double click on it to read better)




























Yes it's him! A certain mr. Morrissey was a punk singing for awhile, for the Nosebleeds in 1978 along with Billy Duffy!!!  The legend goes that he was also one of the founding members of the legendary british Cramps fan club "Legions of the Cramped" !























Factory's -less known- solo artist Vini Reilly was also a Nosebleed punk guitarist!
He is the one in the scarlet dot...























Now for more hardcore S.D.Cult afficionados here's Theatre of Hate 's roster while it still
comprised Billy Duffy (far right) and Nigel Preston who after a short year in Sex Gang Children joined the Cult in 1983.























Ritual was the band that provided the Cult their first bassist (while a guitarist!)
photo by (probably!) Paul Rab John - am I right? 























This is In Excelsis. Check the chart to see what they were about!


















Here's Getting The Fear = S.D.Cult - Ian Astbury!
The main offspring of S.D.C. except for the obvious Cult. 
Handsome aren't they here on the front cover of the notorious Zig-Zag mag back in May '84?
Thanks to Cactus Mouth Informer crew for that one! 






















That's for all for now!
Stay tuned...

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Gothic bands and art vol.3 (Christian Death)

We have talked about the great impression the Pre-raphaelites had on gothic rock imagery in previous posts.
Here's another example again on the same theme of Ophelia. 
In 1985 Christian Death released an EP titled "The Wind Kissed Pictures". 
On the cover a John Everett Millais painting against a dull red background. At least that's for the early vinyl pressings on the italian label Supporti Fonografici, as later the cover was changed...


























The painting in question is indeed titled "Ophelia" and was painted between 1851-52 by one of the great artists of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, John Everett Millais. It's subject was taken by a description in the Shakespearean play "Hamlet". Ophelia's death has been praised as one of the most poetically written death scenes in literature.
As a model for the unfortunate daughter of Polonius, a girl named Elizabeth Siddal was used. The myth goes that another artist of the movement Dante Gabriel Rossetti was present when she posed in a hot bath at Millais studio for the purposes of this painting, and fell in love with her. She later became his muse and wife but her ill-health betrayed her soon...

The Pre-Raphaelites took their name due to their denial of the mature phase of Raphael works and their desire to depict nature in a more accurate way. That is obvious in this painting if you take a closer look at the vegetation details that surrounds the poor lady. 
Some suggest that through the plants a careful eye can discern a hidden skull...



















In 1995 Nick Cave w/ Kylie Minogue were inspired by the painting also as it's so obvious in the video of "Where the Wild Roses Grow"...
Check video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDpnjE1LUvE