von_geisterhand

So it would appear that all the songs from the RHPS-remake are now on Youtube.... and based on the ones I've seen so far....it's the cowardly playing-it-safe-option I feared it would be... with all the subtextual problems mentioned before.

Because that's all Laverne Cox is, right? Just a sweet transvestite. :-I



Plus, it is heartbreaking to see what state Tim Curry is in after his stroke. ;_;

I really don't know how I feel about the casting of an actual transsexual as the "Sweet Transvestite". :-/ I mean, it's blunt and it's obvious and it's gimmicky but then again it's a FOX production for the "youth of today". I don't really think that releasing another film version of RHPS is the sacrilege that some groups may be treating it as. IMHO it is as necessary/valid as, say that recent run of "Jesus Christ Superstar" featuring John Lydon as Herod. I mean, Joel Grey is cool but Alan Cummings is, too, and he's probably more up to the task of performing an entire musical than Mr. Grey. So, meh!
However I also think that Rocky Horror is very much a product of its time and while it certainly has helped people find themselves/their true sexuality back in the day and while undoubtedly people are still finding likeminded individuals through it even nowadays, it doesn't really hold up any longer. Society has moved on and men in drag are no longer the wreckers of civilisation they used to be.
Also, Frank N. Furter is still an alien, per definitionem "The Inhuman Other". And an evil alien at that. Not really a poster boy for tolerance.

Gab es wohl je eine Zeit, zu der das Sprichwort "Wo man singt, da lass Dich nieder. Böse Menschen kennen keine Lieder." wirklich stimmte?
Weil, wenn man sagen wir mal, die Nazis als "Böse Menschen" klassifiziert, dann stimmt das Sprichwort schon nicht mehr, weil die Nazis ja mal ein ganz beachtliches Repertoire an Liedern hatten. Und auch noch in den 1990ern könnte man sicherlich behaupten, daß sowas wie der "Drina-Marsch" als Musik von bösen Leuten zu bezeichnen ist, zumindest aus der Perspektive der Frauen, die zu diesem Lied regelmäßig vergewaltigt wurden.
Es würde mich wundern, wenn es nicht schon im Mittelalter und davor Lieder gab, die Raubritter vor, nach oder während ihrer bösen Taten sangen.

I know the video has been making the rounds of the internet for a while now but still: I can only applaud the work and dedication that must have gone into this and therefore it goes up once more:



Tool isn't the easiest band to cover and as much as I despise the Neo-R&B-style of female vocals, in this case it's probably the healthiest way of not copying MJK.

Respect to all concerned and a motivation to parents everywhere to encourage their children to learn an instrument. Possibly even the Theremin.

A quite readable article even if they leave out a chunk of how things developed between the time that Cosey took her kit off in an artistic way and the recent Nachtmahr-Combichrist-Adversary conflict. That stuff did not happen overnight, you know? There was a logical and fairly depressing development.

On Misogyny in Industrial Music"

Funnily enough, some of the arguments in this discussion match the constantly regurgiated discussion on "Nazis in Goth", particularly when it comes to the demand that an artist should step away from their work and comment on their actual opinions/thoughts on the matter in order to quell a possible suspicions. Laibach, as the article states, "hasn’t broken character in over 30 years of interviews" and still nobody seriously suggests they might actually be Nazis or calls for them to unambigiously distance themselves from the Nazis that attend their shows.
Death In June/Douglas P., on the other hand, has (admittedly reluctantly) stepped away from and commented on his work on occasion, as well as confronting fans that found the rainbow flag onstage incompatible with their political beliefs. Yet, his explanations are simply discarded as false excuses, his contradictions are seen as invalid/irrelevant and he remains the poster boy for Nazis in Neofolk. Frustrating!
YMMV on this, but IMHO there is nothing wrong with an artist presenting him/herself onstage as a baby-eating, this-that-or-something-else-hating, satanist monstrosity calling for death, destruction and eradication of this, that or something else. That stuff has worked well for decades in metal and it probably will remain popular. As long as they don't show the same attitudes off-stage as well, it's fair enough. (Or if they do, they have to live with the consequences. That is what distinguishes Varg Vikernes from Marilyn Manson.)
This approach requires the listener/fan to critically approach the material, though, to not raise their arm to a salute when the artist does. Think of "Tomorrow belongs to me" from "Cabaret". It is rousing and if it is staged well, you do want to join in and the moment you catch yourself wanting to salute, suddenly forced to face something dark inside yourself, is the moment when the magic happens.
Reaching this critical moment is hard, particularly if the artist in question has built a complete entity that almost entirely lacks any "cracks" to begin an analysis/deconstruction with. Laibach's "cracks" are things like their avantgarde past and their usage of seemingly innocent pop songs. It bewilders the listener, thus making him/her think.
Death In June, on the other hand, have been fairly consistent and "crack"-free since essentially becoming a one man show.
Zentriert Ins Antlitz's "Geschäftsfrau" drags you out on the dancefloor with its catchy beat and then faces you with a fairly tough conversation, which hopefully let's you hesitate for a second and go "Hang on, what am I dancing to? What have I been dancing to all night for that matter?"
(To be continued)

The conversation I wish would take place:

Me: I am so excited because I will see Death In June/Non/Sektion B/etc. next week.
Marc: Are you sure? They're Nazis, don't you know?
Me: They are? Why do you think that?
Marc: Well, they say (this) in their lyrics and worked with (them) in the past and what exactly is this talk about a European identity and a reverence for the past anyway? That's dodgy, innit?
Me: Well, I see what you mean about this and yes, that was dodgy but they have adressed that, said that it was just a folly of youth and that they're embarrassed about it. Of course you never know what the performers are actually thinking or saying when they're not in public but then, you never know that with other artists either.
I mean, Metallica are quite clearly more conservative than I would feel comfortable with if they were friends of mine but as far as buying the albums or going to concerts goes, I am happy to live with this conflict.
Marc: And you still want to go the concerts even though you feel uncertain about the artists?
Me: I do. As an assumed adult I made an adult decision and decided to go for it.
Marc: I will still stand in front of the venue and protest.
Me: Cool. I'll see you at the venue then.
Marc: Cool. See you then.

But no. It always turns personal and hearsay and sooner or later violence and disruption is threatened and acted upon. Oh, how I long for an informed and rational discussion.

What I am also missing in this whole discussion, whenever it comes up is a willingness/ability to not take shit at facevalue or rather see it in context. I, for example, always cringe when I see the graffito "Deutschland has gotta die" or "Deutschland muss sterben, damit wir leben können." ("Germany has got to die in order for us to live."), because I feel that this is an incredibly teen angst/rage slogan which (if taken seriously) aiming at the wrong golden calf, as well as assuming the author to fight the same righteous fight as the resistance in Nazi Germany and occupied areas, without actually facing the same risk.
Yet at the same time, I am more than happy to scream the slogan along with Atari Teenage Riot and really like the song. In popular music there is always this abstraction and the choice about how far you are willing to go along with it is yours alone.

At the same time, I have disovered a new pet peeve, which is: "They are so leftwing that they are already rightwing." No, they are not. There are no "lefty fascists". I admit that the difference whether you are being beaten up by somebody who thinks you unpatriotic or by somebody who finds you too patriotic is academic but that still does not mean that the theoretical background is the same, just like something totalitarian is not automatically fascist. You might consider this nitpicking but you'd be wrong. If you actually want to talk about something in a sensible and informed way, you should really try to avoid easy (and wrong) shortcuts.

Two links apropos of nothing in particular:

Men photographed in clichéd Pin-up poses

The idea is interesting/funny but I disagree with the attached statement:
It’s interesting how much more absurd some poses instantly look when they’re being done by men.
That's like saying that you only realise just how ridiculous some lap dog outfits look when you put them on a pitbull.* It all comes down to socio-esthetics and role concepts. None of these are any more ridiculous than any others. Yes, you may laugh at the Hyperbarbies on telly but in the end they are just an elaboration and aesthetic distillation of an idea of "femininity". Or maybe you enjoy Jodie Marsh more the way she looks now.


Slut Rock? Louise Brown On Using Sexuality & Gender In Metal

I admit that I have recently become somewhat out of touch with trends in metal but this filled me with very good memories of my headbanging days. I actually had not been aware of how many fantastic female-fronted metal bands are out there but remember just how taken I was with Kitty, My Ruin and Queen Adreena for a while. I might post some Queen Adreena later. :-)


Speaking of Pitbull: I saw the video to the "Men in Black III"-theme. When a song makes you long even for a fraction of a second for one of the Will-Smith-tracks, you know you've done something wrong.

And just because I was so impressed by the performance, have some live footage from Cent Ans de Solitude:



Cent Ans de Solitude - WGT 2012 Leipzig - Après... von CentAnsdeSolitude


Cent Ans de Solitude - WGT 2012 Leipzig - The... von CentAnsdeSolitude


Cent Ans de Solitude - WGT 2012(Leipzig) - Des... von CentAnsdeSolitude


Cent Ans de Solitude Wave Gotik Treffent Leipzig... von CentAnsdeSolitude

So, that's my first Wave Gotik Treffen over and done with. And on the whole, it was fab. We were lucky with the weather and there was rarely a concert or event where I did not know at least one person there. On the other hand, looking at the pictures and videos that other people shot, I occasionally get the feeling that they were at a different festival. But then, I tended to visit the more leftfield and less showy concerts.
There was shitloads that one could do and see and trying to do it all would probably be a rather futile effort. Personally, I was mainly there for the concerts although the Heidnische Dorf (Pagan Village) was visited on two occasions and used for perambulation and pigging out on fruit wine and roast pig (Mmmmh, Mutzbraten!). In hindsight, more could have been done in terms of socialising but on the other hand I was there with a group of friends who I saw a fair bit of anyway.

There will be another post on the issue of tolerance at the WGT soon but for the moment, I'll just give you a quick overview of the bands/concerts:

Les Jumeaux Discordant: Neo-classical, ambient industrial, ritual: Quite decent, I thought. Good enough to buy their CD, in any case.
Gallerie Schallschutz: Industrial. Okay, but nothing special.
Cut Hands: A side project of Whitehouse, only far less noisy and with a strong african beat. I've seen them before and was quite keen on seeing them again in a different setting. This is an act that IMHO really works far better live with background projection than on record. Are they trying to say something about the way that Africa and its inhabitants have been treated over the years or the way they are seen in Europe? Maybe, but if there was a message, I did not get it either time. This time round there was also a gogo-dancer on stage for two songs. I assume that she was supposed to look cheap, crass and uncoordinated, possibly to say something about popular culture in Africa. Maybe not.
In Slaughter Natives: On CD they may sound different, but live they were like a death metal band with the guitars substituted with ambient drones and noises. Quite good.

The Kuppelhalle of the Volkspalast is an ace venue, by the way, even though it really wasn't used to full effect this time round. The speakers should be directed into the dome or there should be a band without acoustic sound-sources taking advantage of the natural reverb. Where is Test Dept. when you need them? Or Apoptose with the Fanfarenzug Leipzig?

Minamata: frantic industrial noise with hints of breakcore and a well utilised back-projection. Definitely worth checking out.
Ex.Order: Much calmer industrial, a bit like power electronics without the aggression. Didn't really win me over.
Cent Ans de Solitude: This did. It was already a joy to watch that man set up with amplified metal things but it was even more of a joy to watch him elicit all kinds of sound from it. Back projection of industrial ruins and a performer who took the applause in an almost embarassed manner, as if he was surprised that people really enjoyed his music.
He had no sense of time-keeping though and had to be reminded by the stage manager that his time was up, something he ignored for a while until they started setting up the next band while he was still playing.
Which was a bit of a shame, as the next band was Thorofon, who except for one or two "hits" I found relatively forgettable and almost poppy. For my money, CADS should have just carried on.
And then came Brighter Death Now. What he produced in terms of sound was noisy and atonal but never really took off IMHO. What was far more of a problem, though, was that he was completely off his face, stumbling around the stage and taking occasional naps at the back of it. The stage manager had her hands full with him. She had also found it necessary to fill the orchestra pit with all the security personnel they had at their disposal staring at the audience. Presumably this was in order to prevent anybody from taking a shot at Mr. BDN (an idea which must have occured to a few people) but it also added wonderfully to the aggressive atmosphere. Possibly all of this was just an act to antagonize the audience, and if it was, it worked. All in all, a memorable but unsatisfying experience.

Solblot (Swedish Folk): This one I did not watch but only listen to from the hall. There is nothing wrong with it, it's very pleasant and ticks all the boxes but at the same time it's nothing special.
Vurgart (German Neofolk) Do you like Sonne Hagal? Then you might like this. It's essentially a side-project of some SH-people, slightly more rock-orientated. Meh!
Ain Soph (Italian Rock): They were okay but I was always hoping for them to become more industrial/noisy/ritual, which they never did, hence I felt disappointed. Maybe I should give them a second chance on CD. This was rock, plain and simple.
Gnomoclast and Luftwaffe were essentially the same band in terms of people involved, both playing more or less neofolk. I slightly preferred Luftwaffe, as they had a bit more power towards the end. And noisy elements.
Derniere Volonte (french military pop): More than decent, especially in light of the less-than-ideal show I saw at New Year but they are becoming more and more of a synth-pop band with each release, which sadly also means they are becoming more generic and less satisfying.

At this point I started to suspect that I just wasn't in a neofolk mood and would probably not enjoy Of the wand and the moon, so I relocated to the big Agra Hall and watched Diary of Dreams. Which was pretty good, a rock concert putting me in mind of my teens, slightly cheesy but very well done. And there were pyros! :-D I rocked my little socks off and had a bloody good time doing it.


Subheim and Legion I didn't really see. I was too late for the first and too bored by the latter. This is not to say that they weren't good, just that I really wasn't in a mood for electronic drone industrial then.
Bad Sector did something similar but with more of a noise/glitch slant and an interesting back projection.
Tzolk'in did something similar to Cut Hands but used live tribal drums and a more melodic basis. I think there was something about the Mayan Apocalypse that they tried to communicate but the music would have been good without it, too. Think a chill-out version of Winterkälte.

Download/Dead Voices on Air: Techno/IDM with some abstract elements and distorted vocals once DVOA entered (after about an hour). I like DVOA and I like Skinny Puppy but this left me mostly cold.

Näo: Best new discovery of the festival in my book. Beat-orientated electronic music with krautrock/shoegazer influences. Had me and the Kuppelhalle bouncing in no time and left us literally screaming for more.