Cruel Black Dove - The Myth and the Sum by Kristen Sollee

The Myth and The Sum showcases a mature electronic slink compelled by moments of abyssal depth and seductive ethereality.

Kristen Sollee’s Top Ten — January 3 by Kristen Sollee

Best Songs of 2009

(in no strict order)

Kristen Sollee’s Top Ten — December 27 by Kristen Sollee

Best Songs of 2009

(in no strict order)

Rykarda Parasol - For Blood and Wine by Kristen Sollee

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.

San Serac - Music Never Ends (Environ) by Kristen Sollee

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.

The Opposite Sex - Live and Burn EP (Self-Released) by Kristen Sollee

Washington D.C.‘s The Opposite Sex return with a dynamic EP, Live And Burn.

Telepathe: A Different Sort of Minimal Synth by Kristen Sollee

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’.

Kristen Sollee’s Top Ten — July 12 by Kristen Sollee

Best of Summer

(so far)

Her Virgins by Kristen Sollee

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.

Blacklist - Midnight of the Century (Wierd Records) by Kristen Sollee

Blacklist’s medium is a message not only of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, but of geo-politics, socio-cultural dynamics, and revolt.

The Gypsy Genre by Kristen Sollee

“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.”

Kristen Sollee’s Top Ten — April 5 by Kristen Sollee

Excellence & Oddities

Automelodi by Kristen Sollee

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.

Something Wicked This Way Comes: New York City’s New Dark Sisterhood by Kristen Sollee

Destiny, Tamaryn, Zohra, Anastasia: New York City’s rising coven of seductive sirens, ladies of the new church of post-apocalyptic song.

Sophe Lux - Hungry Ghost (Zarathustra) by Kristen Sollee

While the EP is only two songs long, there is enough seduction and redemption for an entire record.