Yesterday I read the post-punk.com’s best-of-the-last-decade list with big interest. I quite liked their collection of music. Then I thought about how my own personal top-list of dark alternative music of the last ten years would look like, and before I realised it, I was already working on it. Here is what I came up with, 40 great releases (LP or EP) to remember. It was a pleasure to look back, reminisce and relive the 2010s.
Another year has passed, The Wave of Things has entered its second year of existence. Episodes require proper planning and time for recording and editing, therefore it is not always possible to keep up with my initial goal of at least one episode per week. However, 32 new episodes is still a good number.
I had some great talks with people in the scene like Keren Batok or Sean Bowley from the post-punk band Eden along with many others.
A new format was introduced to the show, called Wave News, with interesting facts from the dark alternative and new wave front. Due to the positive reactions I will definitely pursue and explore this idea further. Furthermore, the series of dark alternative country profiles, like the ones I did about Slovenia, Hungary, Romania and Lithuania in the last year, will see its continuation.
Let us now have the usual annual revision of the best dark alternative music that came out in the bygone year. Here is my personal Top 13. Read More →
Welcome back to The Wave of Things! Here you can find out about recent news from the dark alternative & new wave music sphere. The video above covers basically the same as the text below. Read More →
2018 was a year with a lot of changes in my life. The biggest was maybe the creation of The Wave of Things show, with one or two weekly episodes, focusing on dark alternative music (featuring talks with musicians, reviews and the like, but not only). The second big change were the foundations of my bands Deus Faust (with Raymond Nelson from Maine, we released our debut album What I Saw in autumn), and Tenebris Obortis (with No-Face), a doomy neofolk-influenced darkwave project. Thirdly, I was involved in several collaborations, e.g. with Toxic Razor’s Metal Disco, and with Turkish duo Dark Lake Whispers. Therefore, I neglected this blog but I have plans to redefine it in the near future to go along with the show. Read More →
Synthpop was never only big in the English speaking world. Almost every European country has developed an interesting synthpop influenced scene in the 80s and 90s, some even “their own personal” Depeche Mode similes.
It’s time for a list of synthpop pearls from East-Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on songs not sung in English. The choices were very hard as the selection is vast and gorgeous. Come with me on a time travel to re-visit a music which once meant the future. Read More →
Another year has passed by and, on the verge of the next one, I reminisce and reflect. As in the previous years I have compiled a best of dark alternative music for you. As always in no particular order. Enjoy! Read More →
Just finished watching the recently released second season of Stranger Things on Netflix. As long as the impressions and images are still fresh in my mind I am trying to put my thoughts down here. In case you didn’t watch the series I warn you to do so before reading further, I am trying not to spoiler too much but one or the other thing might slip.
“Polish Coldwave Journey” has the taste of a holiday adventure, but before everything else it is an important and unique documentary film about the contemporary Polish coldwave. The premiere of this film will be very soon. For this occasion I had a talk with the father of this idea – coming from Slovenia he is a blogger, music critic, musician, cultural anthropologist, a passionate lover of Polish coldwave – the list is endless… Get to know with me André Savetier! Read More →
We did it again! After the great experiences we made last year while making a music-anthropological film about dark alternative music in northern Italy, where we met and hung out with ten bands in Bologna, Ravenna, Parma and Gradara, we decided to do a similar film in a different country. Since I am intrigued by Poland, her language and her music, it was not an all too hard decision to make.
Ever since I was the first time in Ukraine in 2005, I fell in love with the country, its people and its language. It was so different to everything I knew before. The normative basis is not unity, but diversity. Add a rich history with lots of glorious, but also painful moments, add the right amount of poetry and melancholy. Add some music. While most of this music belongs to the pop and folk sector, in the recent years alternatives are on the rise.
Let me introduce to you some alternative bands from Europe’s biggest – yet to many unknown – country.
