The sun shines high above, the sounds of laughter.
The birds swoop down upon, the crosses of old grey churches.
We say that we’re in love, while secretly wishing for rain.
Sipping coke and playing games.
September’s here again… September’s here again.
We’re not dead, life just beckons. More to come shortly.
September (Download)
David Sylvian (Artist)
Purchase CD

It has always been hard for me to appreciate female vocals. I like broken voices, fragile ones, voices which can express a large
palette of emotions. And it seems I often found this in the voice of male singers. Female vocals are too often polished, sterilized on the altar of technical mastery. And what I consider being essential often disappears because of this. However, there is a few exceptions in my record collection. And Shannon Wright is probably my favorite one.

Music has always been a cure to ease the feelings that were overwhelming my mind. I’ve been a metalhead for a long time, probably to fight my diffidence through the brutality and dark issues of the metal world. But my musical envies has soon turned to something different: appeasing sounds, a soundtrack to the ups and downs of existence. Since then, I have been in search of one particular feeling in music: melancholy. Victor Hugo described that feeling as “The happiness of being sad”. And soon I realized that my favorite bands and listening s were all linked by that particular feeling. No matter the style, I want melancholic music. And I want it to be a cure.

During my bands recent North American tour, certain songs were always played prior to sound checks to “test” the clubs PA system. I became very familiar with these songs, as I heard them at full blast for a full month. One song was by a female singer-songwriter I had never heard before, but I was [...]

When you Google for ‘dark music blog,’ this is the first result. We’re also on the first page of results for ‘dark music’. With this in mind, I would be doing a grave injustice to the purpose of this blog without talking about one of the darkest albums of 2006. Not to mention one of the most talked about in musician circles.

Every once and a while I am overcome by a strong yearning to hear a song I haven’t heard in ages. It’s almost always a song which made an important impression on me at some point in my life. About a year ago it was “Rock me Amadeus” by Falco, which I recall as being obsessed with around age 6. Sure, that song is somehow still fun to me, but a recent yearning recalled a much more serious song. You probably know it — “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman.

When I was young, I would listen to the radio all day long, waiting to capture some song I liked onto cassette tape. In hindsight, I’m sure much of it was pop drivel, but I distinctly remember one song standing out; “Fade into You,” by Mazzy Star. The song was dark and hypnotic [...]

Sun Kil Moon is a project which on paper I should love. The main reason being it’s yet another project by Mark Kozelek, the main-man behind Red House Painters and his own solo albums. As I’ve previously professed here on dark dose — Red House Painters and Kozelek’s solo albums rank high on my all-time favorite list. I can name few singer/song-writers who are able to make such emotionally potent songs. Of course, they almost always bleed with heartache, depression and painful nostalgia.

Chris Isaak has written some unquestionably blue, melancholic and outright depressive songs. That’s a fact. I’m well aware several readers may see his name and withdraw in disapproval — they are simply missing out. Simple as that. I actually had quite a hard time deciding which song I would contribute tonight, as there are several altogether stellar dark songs he has written. In the end, I decided on “Nothing’s Changed” from the “Wicked Game” album.

must first give entire credit for this entry to my good friend Mr. Renkse. Without his recommendation I may not have looked further into tonights contribution and really missed out.

Antony and the Johnsons are a perfect example a band people absolutely love, or absolutely hate. There shall be no inbetween. Understanding their music, their aesthetic, even their vocals have often been described as “challenging”. On one side are the critics, who for the most part utterly praise the album (it won the Mercury award, among others). On the other side are the fans, who either follow in worship or who are dizzy with distaste. The fans of the album rage the disbelievers can’t see the dark beauty, while the non-fans refuse to be convinced.