While we listen to the cold wave or death rock music of the 80′s, we can imagine the grey walls of the abandoned workers city, the overwhelming climate of the cold war and of a hidden danger. Raw tones, full of expression, which get to the very mere of the bone, slightly touched with a bits of electronical sounds – these are words, which can describe that music, as well as the work of Cabaret Grey.

The band was founded in 2010, and the members are: Salomea Wrona – vocal and violin, Leszy – guitar. Live concerts are supported by – Ziggy on bass guitar and Daroo – drums. “The Reason” was their debut song which appeared on the VA Shadow Places vol. I. The good reception of this piece encouraged the band to record EP “Stirring”, and to put “Grey Lights” song on the VA Shadow Places vol. II. Salomea Wrona, Leszy worked on the EP, in cooperation with Alexey Nightchild A. Nikitchenko (The Nightchild, Sociophobia, M-DNA), who mastered the sound and recorded bass guitars. This issue made some buzz among the DJs and music promoters, because of the unique way in which their music continues the tradition of the 80′s: that sounds both familiar and completely new.

Cabaret Grey’s music carries us out into the dark, forgotten places in our minds. If we seek the genres which influenced this music we can point at the cold wave, post punk, death rock and the early gothic rock. Cabaret Grey’s music is in some moments very raw, severe, deeply thrilling and the very title – “Stirring” – can be understood as the band’s purpose: that the listener feels excited, intrigued.

We need to mention, that the band pays much attention to the visual side of their works and does its best to make them one of the kind. The design of the cover of the EP “Stirring” is similar to origami and the illustrations are created by Salomea. The inspiration of the whole style can be found not only in the 80′s, but also in the 20′s and 30′s.

The band is currently working on a new material which will be released in 2012. The debut EP “Stirring” will be available from February 14th on as a free download on many well-known download portals as well as a download with costs on Bandcamp, Amazon, iTunes and all well-known stores.

Tracklisting:

1. Grey Lights 03:35
2. Sarah 04:46
3. Stirring 03:36
4. The Reason 04:35
5. Cabaret Grey 01:32
6. World Of Glass 03:32

Links: homepage | myspace | facebook | youtube

Looking for eastereggs was yesterday, good music is for today! On the Easter’s Weekend (07th and 08th of April) the Emergency Exit Festival 2012 in Dornbirn (Austria) will happen, with famous bands from Germany, Italy and UK, which are all bound together through the tradition of the good old goth rock. The Ticket presale for the festival has already begun. You’re able to see:

VENDEMMIAN
RHOMBUS
PRETENTIOUS, MOI?
LOTUS FEED
CHRISTINE PLAYS VIOLA
THE LAST CRY
DISTORTED PICTURES

there, who will make both evenings to a unforgetable event. The Aftershowparty will be sweetened by a famous international DJ set:

Martin Oldgoth (UK)
Aleks Figurehead (DE)
DJ Illi (AT)
DJ Tigerlilly (DE/AT)
DJ Angel Exciter (DE/AT)

offering a good mixture of all facettes of dark music, which we love so much.

To this cause, we, in cooperation with the Static Magazin Germany, came up with a special goodie for you. For every order of one or more tickets, you’ll get a compilation, containing one song of every live act for free, to give you a little foretaste and offer the chance, to get known to yet unknown bands. When you’ve already ordered your ticket, do not worry, you’ll get a download code within the next days, to download this compilation as well!

Next to the terrific live acts, amongst other things, there will be an afmusic booth, where you will have the chance, to talk to the afmusic team and get low priced CDs of the afmusic bands.

Advance Ticket Prices:
Weekend (Saturday + Sunday) 20,00 € plus shipping*

Door Ticket Prices:
Weekend (Saturday + Sunday) 25,00 €

Day Tickets: 20,00 € per day

*Within Germany (Insured Postage): €3 / Rest of Europe (Insured Postage): €4 – Tickets will be shipped within 2 weeks of payment.

Ticket pre-order is possible at
staticmagazingermany.bandcamp.com or on www.staticmagazingermany.com.

Sweden 12 points! What THE SEARCH from Uppsala on “The Search for Connection Contact and Community” deliver, is finest Indie pop laced with Rock, which, without any problems, is at home in the same league as Shout Out Louds, The Mary Onettes, Jeniferever and others. Light-footed and full of enjoyment the guitars and keyboards relaxing dance through the room. But always looking out for solid leg work and never losing the grip to the ground of drums and bass. So the manual and technical experienced ensemble is following the melancholic voice of the singer without drifting away into exaggerated gloom.

THE SEARCH especially show the courage to the emotion, to the eally huge feeling, but without getting lost in kitsch. The Swedes also can switch to attack and pull through some straight rock riffs. Everytime, when oneself gets spun into the melody’s beauty and the silent melancholy.

“The Search for Connection Contact and Community” is a solid, slightly dark pop album, without skirmish, without twirls, but brilliant in it’s creative interplay and touching in its elegiac emotions. Beyond hilarious chart songs, dummy elevator music and cloned plastic music, THE SEARCH show, that sweden comes up with awesome indie pop once more. Because life is too short for boredom.

As a soccer team, THE SEARCH would be a dream. As musicians they’re just brilliant.

RD: 30th September, 2011 (afmusic – Danse Macabre / Al!ve)

Tracklisting:

1. Silent Days
2. An Ounce Of Courage
3. Age Of The Hermit
4. From The Glass Jar
5. Jet
6. Manic Miner
7. Alone In A Space Shuttle
8. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter
9. James
10. The Firm Conviction
11. Kuchisake Onna

Links: Homepage | Facebook | MySpace

After the successful selling of the compilation “The Sound of Static Magazin” on several events via own boothes, the team of the Static Magazin Germany decided, to release the compilation as a download, too.

The particularity is, that you will find afmusic’s LOTUS FEED and CHRISTINE PLAYS VIOLA, instead of two bands of the CD-version, on the download-release. The Compilation with 12 solid tracks will be available for a low-budget price on the well-known download stores (iTunes, AmazonMP3 etc.) from Friday the 26th of August 2011 on.

www.staticmagazingermany.com

It’s been pretty silent about the swedish Indie-Rocker from THE SEARCH for a long time. After their successful album “Saturnine Songs” in 2008, first gigs in Germany and some changes in the band’s line-up now the sympathic guys from tranquil Uppsala come up with a 6-CD-download-compilation “The Silverslut 2000-2002″.

From 2000 until 2002 THE SEARCH – formerly known as SILVERSLUT – recorded 6 EPs and autonomously published them in small numbers. The first two EPs “The Silverslut” (2000) and “Arctic Cold Days” (2000) actually contain some songs sung in Swedish. Both EPs radiate the charm of early recordings, which reveals the bands first steps with charming naivity.

The third EP “Friday Saturday” from the same year already gave a hint what enormous progess the band has made within short time. This EP was a very consistent one and kept a golden thread. With “Travoltol” (2001) the band succeeded in holding their stride and so the entire EP evolves around nothing but sex.

On “Dancing In The Winter Sky” (2002) the guys radically broke with the mould of their previous sound and created all songs on the bass guitar. In this way their sounds became less organic but the beats got more rhythmical. Even with their last EP under the name SILVERSLUT – “Cosmetic Rock” (2002) – the band stayed true to these principles.

Although the band renamed itself THE SEARCH in 2003, those 6 EPs always were regarded as the first publications of the band and were available as free downloads from last.fm only for a long time. Since this compilation contains some of the bands classic favourites – such as “Quash”, a song about love, hornyness, despair and cowardness, “Juno”, a very great song named after Tinas (the keyboarder at that time) synthesiser, “Me And Ritva And Some Cheap Scotch” or “Chloë” – mastermind Razmig decided to release the entire collection as an official download-compilation in order to bridge the gap until autumn, when THE SEARCHs new album will be published.

The download of the 6-EP-compilation is going to be available starting 28th of June 2011 on all known download-stores and on afmusic.

Tracklisting:

1. I saw the light
2. Icewoman
3. Let me see your arms stretch out
4. Come lie next to me
5. Underwater cheek to cheek
6. Night friends
7. A young open wound
8. Juno
9. The search for a meaningful existence
10. Squeeze me like a snake
11. Natasja scotch
12. Quash
13. Badass salty
14. Them panties
15. Dick fire
16. Travolta
17. Me and ritva and some cheap scotch
18. Boken
19. Do you wanna go out?
20. Steel wall baby
21. A midnight date
22. Chloë
23. Sunset park
24. Surrogat
25. What the fuck
26. Razmigs nya
27. Min bottenvåning
28. Blend
29. Bizmylla jive
30. Press my hand
31. Barbara
32. My kiss cucumber
33. Margaret
34. Infection
35. Autofellatio

(Tracks 1-5 Cosmetic Rock EP 2002, Tracks 6-11 Dancing in the Winter Sky EP 2002, Tracks 12-18 Travolto EP 2001, Tracks 19-23 Friday Saturday EP 2000, Tracks 24-30 Arctic Colddays EP 2000, Tracks 31-35 The Silverslut EP 2000)

http://thesearchsweden.wordpress.com/
http://thesearch.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Search/9429645929
http://www.myspace.com/thesearchsweden

The four songs on the “Slow 2004-2005″ compilation are taken from “Sadness Within” (2004) and the single “My Star” (2005). Emerald Park was at that time a completely different band, with different band members and a different musical preference. During the recording of “Sadness Within” the guys listened to bands such as Wilco, Jayhawks and Calexico. After the release of the record they wanted to find something else. They wanted the sounds to be lighter and more playful. More pop.

“Slow” and “Swimming in the rain” are taken from the debut album “Sadness Within”, recorded and produced by Stellan Colt. Former bass player Mikael Fredin wrote “My Star”. The song was originally more upbeat, almost punk-sounding, but when producer Carl Granberg heard the song in the studio he thought otherwise. Martina had recently found a toy, a small Casio. So the band used one of the beats from that one and it all started with the electric guitars playing against each other.

“My Star” was actually a minor hit at the student radio charts this year. Further more the band thought, that “Utopia” would sound like a rock anthem, something for the big stages. But Carl thought otherwise even in this case. He liked the original demo, recorded on an old tape recorder, and tried to keep that feeling.

The Single-EP “Slow 2004-2005″ will be released as a free download under a Creative Commons license on 10th of May on afmusic and 23 Seconds Netlabel (SE).

Tracklisting:

1. Slow [04:11]
2. Swimming in the Rain [04:33]
3. My Star [02:28]
4. Utopia [03:29]

“Slow” and “Swimming in the rain”: recorded and produced by Stellan Colt
“My Star” and “Utopia”: recorded and produced by Carl Granberg

www.myspace.com/emeraldpark
www.af-music.de
www.23seconds.org

(Photo credits: Peter Erdelyi)

The newsworthy single “Reality Bites” from Emerald Park finds its way onto CD after a huge success as a digital single. On the “EXTREME Traumfänger 11″ Compilation you can find the song next to bands like Deine Lakaien, New Model Army, I Like Trains, IamX, O. Children and many more.

The CD is available from the 25th of march on.

Tracklisting:
01 Deine Lakaien “Without Your Words” 3.59
02 New Model Army “Ocean Rising” 5.11
03 I Like Trains “We Saw The Deep” 5.08
04 Iamx “I Am Terrified” 4.58
05 Emerald Park “Reality Bites” 3.19
06 Born For Bliss “Empty Room” 5.16
07 Pink Turns Blue “Stars Collide” 4.19
08 O.Children “Heels” 4.20
09 Julien-K “Maestro” 3.31
10 Sixtimeszero “Dark Nila The Black Swan” 2.16
11 Lost In Desire “Artificial Love” 5.52
12 Traumtänzer “Eisprinzessin” 5.51
13 Saints Of Ruin “Love Dies” 4.14
14 Contrast “Chained To The Past” 5.23
15 Die Art “Pale (Extd. Version)” 14.42

Like every year, Dr. Nilsen (Eternal Nightmare) publish a free download compilation duly to his birthday. So he does that this year, too. The compilation “24 Years of Rebellion” is available since 30th of January 2011 under the slogan “The Rebirth of Art and Architecture” on www.years-of-rebellion.co.de.

Besides bands like “Nine Inch Nails” or “How to destroy Angels” you can find bands from the underground, like “Versus”, “Mach Fox” or “(((S)))” Furthermore there is also a “Best of”-version of the compilation, for its fifth anniversary, which contains an excellent choice of songs from all five compilations, which is also available on this site.

Tracklisting:

1. Cassandra’ Run – Intro
2. Eternal Nightmare – Yashar
3. Sturtzfrequenz – Weltentraum
4. Erleen – Psychedelic Space Ship
5. How To Destroy Angels – Fur Lined
6. Unfactory – My Insane
7. Accident – Vert Blue Noir
8. (((S))) – Heroes
9. Versus – I Want 2 B U
10. DaSandyMan – Alone
11. Egoamp – The Carnival (Edit Version)
12. Ninetwelve – Cut Your Throat
13. Laud23 – Achtung
14. Mach Fox – Dr. Night (Alt Mix)
15. The Silence Industry – Permanent Crisis
16. Nine Inch Nails – Discipline (Live in Portland)
17. Dr. Geek and the Freakshow – Wolfman

Download: Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

More Infos at http://www.years-of-rebellion.co.de/

From today the first CD compilation of the Gothic web radio Schwarze Welle is available in stores. Besides many well known scene bands there are with (((S))) and aeon sable two afmusic acts on it. Among many other stores the CD can be ordered at Amazon.

Tracklisting:

1. Letzte Instanz Feat. Aylin Asl – Der Garten
2. Megaherz – Ebenbild (Die Krupps Remix)
3. Das Ich – Zuckerbrot & Peitsche
4. Zeromancer – It Sounds Like Live (But It Looks Like Sex)
5. Jabberwock – Fake
6. Fgfc820 – Society
7. (((S))) – Addicted To My Dreams
8. Veljanov – Königin Aus Eis
9. Parralox – Isn’t It Strange
10. Eisbrecher – Schwarze Witwe
11. The Pussybats Feat. Meli – A Wish
12. Aeon Sable – Agnosia
13. Punto Omega – Fabricantes De Miedo
14. Dual Density – Undress
15. Die Perlen – Mein Stern
16. Mundtot – Haltet Die Welt An
17. Mind.Area – Being Suffering (HUMAN DECAY rmx)
18. Leichenwetter – O Schweig
19. Area24 – Flowers

http://www.myspace.com/schwarze_welle

In the current Gothic Magazine No. 67 is a small article about our Goth-rockers from UK and their latest album “Open The Sky”. Moreover the “Gothic Compilation 47″ features the track “Almost Everything” among great songs by bands like The Sounds, Inkubus Sukkubus, Joy/Disaster or Die Art and many other well-known scene bands.

The magazine is available on www.gothic-shopper.de, details of the current issue are available on www.gothic-magazine.de