-
SUBSCRIBE NOW
Shop our Secure
Big Takeover Store
for Back Issues
T-shirts & CDs
ISSUE 72
ABOUT TO SHIP!
Join the Big Takeover Group on Yahoo!
Donate
Help defray the cost of doing all this stuff. Give as little or as much as you want. PayPal accepts credit cards.
-
-
-
Black Crystal Fuck Wolf - My Little Droney EP (MechaBenzaiten)
A crawl through the crunch of synthetic insects underfoot and tomblike echoes of the claustrophobic deep, My Little Droney is an uneasy portrait of subtle horror.
31 January 2011Martial Canterel - You Today (Wierd Records)
What began as McBride’s solo project in the early aughts throughout small dives in Brooklyn has since grown into a massive crowd-pleasing pulse reverberating across the U.S. and Europe.
22 July 2010The Devil's Blood - The Time of No Time Evermore (Van)
Without playing for shock value, The Devil’s Blood weave a smoky cloak of cloven hoof and hook-driven rock ‘n’ roll.
18 June 2010Religious to Damn - Glass Prayer
While the sound Religious to Damn create has aural antecents in Cocteau Twins, Mazzy Star, Fleetwood Mac and their ilk, there’s a more nuanced narrative playing out in the music.
12 March 2010Revel Hotel - The Beating of the Wings
The Beating of the Wings is a rare breed of record, building a sonic bricolage from moody glam cabaret and early 80’s coldwave with an injection of Nine Inch Nails ire.
11 January 2010Cruel Black Dove - The Myth and the Sum
The Myth and The Sum showcases a mature electronic slink compelled by moments of abyssal depth and seductive ethereality.
18 December 2009Rykarda Parasol - For Blood and Wine
Rykarda Parasol’s dark, rich voice, weathered as if by tragedy and time, leaves you weeping and grinning til the end as she drags you through the dusty back alleys of Gothic Americana.
5 November 2009San Serac - Music Never Ends (Environ)
The idea of IDM is vague bordering on absurd, but when I first heard San Serac, somehow no label was more apt than Intelligent Dance Music.
14 August 2009The Opposite Sex - Live and Burn EP (Self-Released)
Washington D.C.‘s The Opposite Sex return with a dynamic EP, Live And Burn.
5 August 2009Telepathe: A Different Sort of Minimal Synth
A colorful Brooklyn duo with equal parts hip hop and synthpop apparent in their spartan beats are still very much of the moniker, ‘minimal synth’.
10 July 2009Her Virgins
For an ambitious, up-and-coming outfit, New York City’s Her Virgins are a typical anomaly, fusing dark pop with a glam aesthetic that runs the gamut from Clockwork Orange to rivethead chic.
25 May 2009Blacklist - Midnight of the Century (Wierd Records)
Blacklist’s medium is a message not only of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, but of geo-politics, socio-cultural dynamics, and revolt.
14 May 2009The Gypsy Genre
“It has become a huge topic lately. Everyone’s talking about what is gypsy music and who has the right to use it, so I think about it all the time.”
4 April 2009Automelodi
Montreal’s Xavier Paradis may have the French connection, but is actually a forerunner in the distinctly North American movement of minimal synth that has been seething below the surface since the 1990’s.
23 March 2009Something Wicked This Way Comes: New York City’s New Dark Sisterhood
Destiny, Tamaryn, Zohra, Anastasia: New York City’s rising coven of seductive sirens, ladies of the new church of post-apocalyptic song.
30 January 2009Sophe Lux - Hungry Ghost (Zarathustra)
While the EP is only two songs long, there is enough seduction and redemption for an entire record.
31 December 2008New York Dolls - Irving Plaza (New York) - Saturday, December 27, 2008
This post-Christmas fix of the New York Dolls live at The Fillmore might just be the best show I’ve seen them play since the 2004 reunion.
27 October 2008Metronome The City - Electric Elements Exposed (MTC)
Metronome The City is a rare find: a band able to maintain a unified sound whilst jumping between disparate genres and tempos without missing a beat.
10 August 2008Tamaryn - Led Astray, Washed Ashore (Tamaryn)
Somber and seductive, brooding and atmospheric, Tamaryn’s debut EP is filled with the kind of shimmering songs that alto chanteuses like Nico and Siouxsie Sioux offered us in years past.
24 June 2008Wierd Compilation Volume II: Analogue Electronic Music (Wierd)
The set focuses on analogue electronic music with the requirement that it be synthetic yet organic and created through a symbiotic relationship between man and machine.
29 April 2008Fern Knight - Fern Knight (VHF)
Fern Knight is entrancing Renaissance fare with a psych-rock twist.
7 February 2008Martial Canterel - Refuge Underneath (Wierd)
With the staccato surge and somber vocalizing of DAF, the distorted synthetic soundscapes of Dirk Ivens’ eeriest work, and the industrial strength of The Young Gods, Martial Canterel’s Refuge Underneath is a bleak intellectual exercise in the dark and danceable.
6 January 2008The Funeral Crashers
Creeping forward whilst changing form and focus since the turn of the century, The Funeral Crashers have become a mainstay of New York City’s fledgling “new dark rock scene.” A new appreciation for The Crashers grew after immersing myself in their first full-length, so I decided to fill in the blanks through an interview.
22 October 2007The Cult - Born Into This (Roadrunner)
The Cult’s painfully disappointing Born Into This can’t simply be the result of an aging band out of touch with a musical landscape they once electrified in decades passed.
9 August 2007Tokyo Gothic: Blood and...Butterflies?
After a month of exploring the shadowy eaves of Tokyo’s ‘goth’ scene, one omnipresent icon of the dark and otherwordly came forward. It was…the butterfly?!
21 June 2007The Opposite Sex - Violent Heartstrings (Self-Released)
Despite a focus on the weighty and the wistful, the Opposite Sex’s debut full-length still has a vibrant violence that makes the band’s post-punk stylings so intriguing.
29 May 2007The Faint - Webster Hall (New York) - Sunday, May 27, 2007
For the seventh anniversary of New York City’s renowned and resplendent roving dance party, Omaha’s own were the perfect addition to an eclectic night of rock ‘n’ roll depravity.
21 March 2007A New Dark Rock Scene for New York City? (Funeral Crashers, Bellmer Dolls, Blacklist)
Over the course of an evening, in bathroom lines and at bars, I tracked down P.H. Lovecraft, singer for the Funeral Crashers, Peter Mavrogeorgis, singer for the Bellmer Dolls, and Josh Strawn, singer for Blacklist, to see if they believed in the existence of a burgeoning NYC dark rock scene.
15 February 2007Dir en grey - Nokia Theatre (New York) - Saturday, February 10, 2007
The sheer live intensity of Dir en grey and the band’s effusive, excessively adoring fans made their sold-out show last Saturday quite an engaging spectacle.
28 January 2007Get to Know the Opposite Sex (Opposite Sex - Trash Bar (Brooklyn) - Sunday, January 14, 2007)
A riveting show is rare, and I can count on one hand the number of times that I’ve been truly engaged by the live performance of a band I’ve never heard before.
15 December 2006Death of an Idol (Billy)
After the recent release of Happy Holidays: A Very Special Christmas Album, I have come to realize that the Billy Idol I once knew and loved is dead.
6 November 2006Various Artists - Wierd Compilation (Wierd)
The beauty of this compilation has been its role in introducing me to so much new and cutting edge music—spare synths that suck you in, electric guitars that slice and aurally eviscerate—this is a record that begs to be listened to alone, in the dark.
20 October 2006The Hunt Begins
Done up in glistening war paint, tricked out with teeth and feathers and bone and laced into plenty of black leather and denim, The Hunt not only look the part, but play it all too well.
11 October 2006Dir En Grey
Since 1997, the five members of Dir en grey have thrashed their way to prominence in Japan, leaving an indelible bruise on the rock scene wherever their black leather boots have tread.
17 September 2006Drop Dead Festival IV - Knitting Factory (New York) - Saturday, September 2, 2006
Although I was only able to make it to the second day of Drop Dead Festival IV, I still managed to catch some captivating sets.
1 September 2006Faster Pussycat - Firestation Cue (Gaithersburg, Maryland) - Saturday, July 29, 2006
While Faster Pussycat emerged from the much-maligned Los Angeles hair/sleaze/pop metal scene of the mid-1980s, a lot has changed since then.
21 August 2006Blacklist with Bell Hollow - Mercury Lounge (New York) - Sunday, August 6, 2006
The most vital show I’ve seen recently was not a long-awaited re-appearance of yet another 1980’s luminary, but an evening with two local bands, BELL HOLLOW and BLACKLIST.
7 August 2006"Suiting Up": The Dress for Success Fundraiser - 40/40 Club (New York) - Tuesday, July 25, 2006
While JAY-Z’s 40/40 Club is not my usual haunt, I decided to go there after being invited to the “Suiting Up” fundraiser, for the good cause (and the free booze).
21 July 2006Tokyo Rock City: Let's Not Bring Down the Government
With a sweeping silver mane that would be better suited to an aging rockstar rather than a prime minister, JUNICHIRO KOIZUMI is not only the most powerful man in Japan, but also a rock ‘n’ roll obsessive.
9 July 2006Nikki Corvette and the Stingrays - Trash Bar (Brooklyn) - Friday, June 23, 2006
While Corvette made a successful return to the spotlight in 2001, she has only recently released her first new material in decades on the LP Back to Detroit. Now playing as NIKKI CORVETTE AND THE STINGRAYS, she and her band floored me on the Brooklyn stop of their recent promotional tour.
25 June 2006Japanese Rock on NPR
Some say that once a cultural trend receives coverage on National Public Radio, its next step is to The New York Times and on to ubiquity. If this theory holds true, by this time next year DIR EN GREY will be taking KORN out as their opening act.
5 June 2006Heavy Trash - Paradiso (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) - Monday, May 29, 2006
It was a rockabilly revival of religious proportions as the hip-swiveling prophet of HEAVY TRASH, JON SPENCER, testified his way to sweet salvation for the Dutch crowd.
19 May 2006Alison Goldfrapp
After attending GOLDFRAPP’s delicious live show twice in the past six months and falling in lust with their newest electro-glam masterpiece, Supernature, I was excited to speak with the platform-loving siren behind the songs, ALISON GOLDFRAPP.
29 April 2006Dir En Grey Summer Tour with Korn!
This is not only a big deal for DIR EN GREY, but also speaks to the growing popularity of Japanese rock (J-Rock) all across America.
21 April 2006The Cult - Nokia Theatre (New York) - Sunday, March 26, 2006
I was ecstatic to learn that the guys had decided on a whim to get together without the backing of an album and tour the USA.
9 April 200645 Grave's Dinah Cancer
Before a revamped 45 GRAVE took the stage for a hellacious set at CBGB on March 5th, I had the honor of speaking briefly with lead screamer and reigning queen of deathrock, DINAH CANCER.
27 March 2006SXSW 2006: Goldfrapp - Austin Music Hall (Austin, TX) - Thursday, March 16, 2006
I couldn’t have asked for a better first show at South-by-Southwest.
17 March 2006D'espairsRay - Avalon (New York) - Thursday, February 23, 2006
For the second part of their first ever American tour, Japanese Visual Kei band D’ESPAIRS RAY returned to New York City to play an exhilarating show at Avalon.
8 March 2006New York Dolls - Avalon (New York) - Sunday, February 19, 2006
The President’s Day Motherf*cker bash, featuring a phenomenal performance by the NEW YORK DOLLS, was a total glam rock O.D.
27 February 2006The Sisters of Mercy - House of Blues (Las Vegas) - Thursday, February 16, 2006
Wherever there’s any dark band reunion that older folks may dismiss as a money-making scheme, you’ll find me.
21 February 2006Electric Six - Bowery Ballroom (New York) - Sunday, February 12, 2006
The band’s mix of humor and razor wit with the dirtiest disco, funk, and soul is backed up by tight chops and a winning, completely unpretentious stage presence.
29 January 2006Musings on Eyebrows in Rock 'n' Roll (or the Lack Thereof)
There is a great untold history of eyebrow-less people in rock ‘n’ roll, and it’s time that their hairless brow bones were noticed.
18 January 2006Japanese Visual Kei and the Blurring of American Genre Lines
What I find interesting is that in the Visual Kei scene the ‘rules and regulations’ that bind American bands today are seemingly nonexistent.
1 January 2006The Sisters of Mercy to Play Vegas!
A truly blessed thing has occurred this week. After a dry spell of nearly 7 years, THE SISTERS OF MERCY have decided to grace America with their presence once more and play a one-off gig at the House of Blues in Las Vegas.
24 December 2005John Waters - 9:30 Club (Washington, D.C.) - Thursday, December 22, 2005
One wouldn’t usually associate Christmas with JOHN WATERS, the reigning king of filthy films.
15 December 2005Japanese Women in American R 'n' R: Super Kawaii & Super Stereotyped
GWEN STEFANI, perhaps unwittingly, is perpetuating the idea of Japanese women as silent, coy playthings, while she preaches her own message of non-conformist, feminist fun.
7 December 2005Goldfrapp - Nokia Theatre (New York) - Monday, December 5, 2005
Oh. My. God. I have seen the future of electro and it looks good.
3 December 2005Bauhaus - Nokia Theatre (New York) - November 11, 2005
The venue was dark upon arrival, and a subdued cello-driven piece played softly in the background. Concertgoers were hushed, some sitting – the whole scene giving the impression of an aged vampire’s study.
28 November 2005Nina Hagen - Avalon (New York) - Monday, October 31, 2005
The second and final part of my Halloweekend was quite different from Mofo. While Mofo satisfied my glam rock side, the Drop Dead Festival appeased my deathrock side.
25 November 2005Halloweekend
Motherf***er is the best ongoing dark and decadent R&R dance party that I’ve been to since moving to NYC in 2001. I attended my first one the first week I arrived, and I’ve tried to go to each one since.
23 November 2005Shadowtime Commences
I suppose I have some explaining to do, since this is my first post. So here’s the low down. As soon as I heard The Big Takeover was letting some of its writer’s have blogs, I knew I had to take a stab at it.
-
-
|