Lazy Sunday recommendation amidst impending doom!

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tell me to take my recommendation and stick it straight up my ass by emailing me at misanthropaganda@yahoo.com

Since really there isn't much to do amidst COVID quarantine but wait for the avenging angel to knock at your front door and sneeze on you, I've got a suggestion for some dope entertainment on a lazy, pre-apocalyptic Sunday. This is definitely one for the Smart TV crowd as I'm afraid that the miniscule screen of your phone or tablet won't do this stunning concert film justice.

Notice the use of the term 'concert film'. To dismiss The Cure In Orange with a term as pedestrian as 'concert footage' would be a huge mischaracterization, if not a total disrespect. This flawless marriage of music and cinematography was filmed over the course of a three night stint in August of 1986 at Theatre antique d'Orange. This is a Roman amphitheatre built in the first century AD in the French countryside of Orange, Vaucluse. (The Romans occupied what was known as Gaul, which you today know as France, you dummy!) Between the atmosphere implied by that magnificent ancient structure, the impeccable natural lighting of the setting sun as the show kicked off and director Tim Pope's gifted eye, this film is a perfect storm for this band to be showcased. It brings The Cure to life -a band whose work speaks for itself, but isn't exactly known for or presumed to not have a dynamic live performance. Meanwhile, if you're looking for dynamic performance, just look at the crowd slamming around and going bonkers to the masters of melancholy all throughout their set. You really can't take your eyes off of the screen for a moment's time, it's that compelling.

There should not be a single fan of The Cure, old or new, that has not seen this. The boys do material spanning up until The Head On The Door, which was completed and released in 1985, a year prior to the filming of this. The recording is lush, clear, and differs only from the studio versions in tempo which seemed a tad bit suped up that night compared to how the cuts sound originally. Also, Lol Tolhurst's keyboards were mixed a bit louder than previously heard on record, which actually makes for fantastic versions of "Play For Today" and "Primary", two songs which I otherwise don't really care for that much. It's so odd that this was never released in audio format as it would probably rank amongst the greatest live albums ever. 

So snuggle up on your couch with a drink, a joint, a hypodermic, whatever, and relax to this. This won't necessarily convert the uninitiated (the Pornography album should undoubtedly take care of that), but if you're already a fan this will cast your appreciation for The Cure in stone...

Here are the links so that you smelly little pinks can viddy well...

The Cure In Orange part 1

The Cure In Orange part 2

The Cure In Orange part 3

Gern Blandsten Records and two early '90s post-Hardcore rarities

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'

By the way, you can always call me a "bitch-ass nigga" by emailing:

misanthropaganda@yahoo.com

I was doing some backtracking, trying to think back to any old 90's Hardcore/post-Hardcore that I may have forgotten along the way of years (especially post-Hardcore.) After a long bout of distaste with the Hardcore scene that began at the closing of its golden renaissance, I've finally reconciled with Hardcore over the last couple of months. Once, it was everything to me, fuck, it was the only thing to me. Then, disillusionment hit, or what I have labeled as Ian Mackaye Syndrome, or IMS. It happens! This is when you just reach a certain age and your eyes become a little clearer and you start to question all of the bullshit ideals (such as the notion of "scene unity") and all of the macho posturing that Hardcore is engraved with. As a result of IMS, a whole lot of Hardcore records from my personal collection got sold or traded away (some nice treats too, rarities, colored vinyl, you name it.)

 That was a big mistake, because now I've come to terms with the fact that deep down, underneath it all I'm just a Hardcore kid who has gone astray. The fact is that I miss my old records. They were/are tokens, keepsakes of a part of me that I've learned to accept and even cherish.
This has given me an activity to pursue amidst my divorce and simultaneous midlife crisis, the recuperation of certain Hardcore gems that I had no business disposing of in the first place. Also, it has opened up the floodgates for the acquisition of material from many bands who were in my orbit throughout Hardcore's golden age but yet remained overlooked.  
  
I was reminded of two bands in particular, 1.6 Band from Long Island, New York and Merel from New Jersey. I remember reading about both of these bands in old issues of Maximum Rock N' Roll -I'd say circa 1992/93 or so, when I was still more Punk than Hardcore kid. Once I went full-blown Hardcore in early '94 Merel and 1.6 were distant memories to me. Coincidentally, after doing my research for this article, I found that both of these lesser-known bands are label-mates on Gern Blandsten Records. So that is where our story begins.

Gern Blandsten Records Logo

Gern Blandsten was founded by Charles Maggio, front-man of New Jersey quasi-Grind, Thrash/Core band Rorschach. Hopefully those of you who may be reading this are familiar with them, I suggest you hook up pronto if not. They have a discography titled Autopsy that has all of their stuff on it and I assure you there will be no disappointments. Some members of Rorschach went on to be in Deadguy and Kiss It Goodbye, but I never gave a shit about those bands. Maggio's label has/had an extensive roster, a very diverse one at that; but stylistically the only acts on the label that appeal to me are of course Rorschach, 1.6 and Merel.  

Rorschach had a following, a cult one at that, but 1.6 and Merel were lesser known in my opinion because the national focus was locked into the bands that frequented venues like Coney Island High, the Wetlands and of course CBGBs. There was a whole other scene going on, one that revolved around bands like Rorschach, 1.6 and Merel who set up shop at joints like ABC NO RIO and some other spot that seemed to pop up in a lot of old flyers called Mountain Lodge No.5. 

1.6 Band

1.6 Band features Kevin Egan (vocals) and Lance Jaeger (Bass guitar), former members of NYHC band Beyond. This is the band that gave Vic DiCara of 108 his start. 1.6 band takes no cues from its predecessor, though. The straight ahead Hardcore of Beyond is far from what you may expect to hear on a 1.6 record. I have read a review of them in preparation for this post where their sound is described as "the Minutemen in a very nasty mood". OK, I can see it. 1.6 throw a lot of these tight, travelling grooves that are reminiscent of the aforementioned, only 1.6 do it with much more intense tremolo picking and occasional chaotic/emotional bursts. The use of strategically manipulated feedback abounds throughout their work. Sure that's a played out guitar technique of '90s Hardcore, but since 1.6 really doesn't quite sound like anybody it doesn't wear out your ear. Lance Jaeger's bass lines are superb, and as a whole the rhythm section is tighter than yoga pants. I would say Minutemen meets Fugazi is a little better fitted as a descriptive. Kevin Egan himself has professed a reverence for DC bands in several interviews so to surmise Fugazi as an influence is no stretch. Also, 1.6 was affiliated somehow to another DC post-Hardcore band from the '90s called The CrownHate Ruin whom were on Dischord Records and are also worthy of a trial spin at the very least. Incidentally, 1.6's last show was played in DC at the Beta Punks Warehouse, another venue that seemed to pop up frequently in flyers of that era.

Gern Blandsten Records put out this band's discography, titled Broke Up. It consists of recordings compiled from four separate studio sessions. Tracks 1 through 17 were recorded by Wharton Tiers at Fun City Studio in New York City and tracks 18 through 23 were recorded in May of 1994 in Baldwin, New York at Dare Studios. The layout and art direction of the disc is real simple but classy in that early '90s vein and it's nice to peek at while listening.

Merel

Merel was really dope and I'm not quite sure why this band wasn't a little bit more known, even considering the previously hypothesized fixation that the scene had on Coney and CBs bands. These kids (or so they seemed) rocked out in a noisy, emotional vein with bewildered, surly vocals and many chaotic outbreaks in between. I won't refer to them as Emo, because that would be a huge pigeonhole. Emotional post-Hardcore is a good way to describe Merel. I would have loved to have seen this band live to see if the emotional content of the music compels the band physically to act out. If so, quite a sight that must be for one such as myself that has a discriminating eye for stage presence. I couldn't imagine being one of the perpetrators of the sound Merel creates and not just go berserk during that emotional bloodletting. 

As with the 1.6 Band, the layout for this discography is also cool but a little different on the motif. Whereas 1.6's layout was of a neater vein, with cursive print fonts and the whole shebang, the insert booklet includes the lyrics with some grainy, old black and white shots of circus freaks that give the graphic direction an odd, surrealist vibe. Between both of these bands I take preference with Merel. The emotion seems to be coming from a darker place which appeals to me, and their sound isn't all neatly tucked and compartmentalized, rather, it often just seems like a free for all. Avant Garde Core! Holy fuck, I just coined a genre... Avant Garde Core, I like that!

This is an image of the discography below, it's a partial picture of St. Michael the archangel defeating Satan on the upper left corner of the cover. Never fear, I'm sure this is an irreligious band. Even if they are, as with most post-Hardcore the lyrics are abstract and nonsensical at times so big whoop if they are, who'd know?  

So don't waste time and pursue these rarities, if post is your deal especially seek these out. Your Quicksand records are played out already... Now if you'll excuse me, I have to begin work on a poem about cunnilingus titled "Eat Before It Gets Cold". The literary process never ends. Smooches!

Happy 45th to Alice Cooper's first solo record, Welcome To My Nightmare

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Today marks the 45th anniversary of Alice Cooper's Welcome To My Nightmare. Despite having about six irons in the fire right now as far as writing is concerned I wanted to post in acknowledgement of this dope record to commemorate. I won't sit and tell you that Alice Cooper was a huge part of my musical diet in my youth because such is not really the case. Quite frankly I didn't really start to appreciate his particular genius until recently, as in the last decade or so. However, my earliest memories of discovering Rock N'Roll do include seeing Alice Cooper footage on a then infant network called MTV which actually played music videos, good music videos if you can imagine that! There on the screen were these images of this fucking freak with a python around his neck and creepy eye makeup, rocking out on a stage with a fucking guillotine behind him. Can you imagine the impression that an image like that can make on a young mind which up until that point had only seen the likes of Latin Jazz orchestras or crooners like Julio Iglesias? It was disturbing and yet instantly enthralling all at the same time.

Alice's name is synonymous with the term Shock Rock. Sam Dunn's notable sociological works in the field of Heavy Metal and it's five million sub-genres already determined that Alice wasn't ground zero. Dunn's research predates Shock Rock to the likes of Arthur Brown and Screaming Jay Hawkins, but those earlier names have fallen sadly out of relevance either through death or old age. Alice Cooper remains active, not only that, but also he is revered by the contemporary (not so much) guard of Shock Rockers like Marilyn Manson and that gavone Rob Zombie. To declare Coop the sitting king at this point wouldn't be a stretch... To me Alice is a reminder that in the end Rock N'Roll is show biz, it has to entertain, which he most certainly did. Alice's formula was somewhat unheard of in its time but has been rehashed ad nauseum since!

Prior to Welcome To My Nightmare, the name Alice Cooper referred to the band itself whom had released seven albums together. One of these was 1971's Killer, regarded by some as a quintessential proto-Metal album. In the spring of 1974 Cooper the man, along with Lou Reed's live band began working on 'Nightmare. It was released the following year to some unfavorable reviews, but hindsight typically provides 20/20 for eyes blurred from brilliance, and so later on this record received some due. Ironically, some big deal music journal or another rated this album's front cover in the 100 greatest album covers of all time, and I personally think the cover kind of sucks!

You couldn't imagine the relevance that I'm finding in this album in my middle age. The opening lines alone seem to speak directly to me in the zero hour of my insanity:

"Welcome to my nightmare/ I think you're gonna like it/ I think you're gonna feel you belong"

This was a concept record, and so some of it tends to come off as a musical, or like cabaret music ("Some Folks"), but never fear, for no one hates musicals more than myself and I happen to love this album. It's an entertaining listen and has a reasonable running time so it never feels as if it's dragging on. As I wrote this I played it on loop three times and still wanted to go back and cherry pick a couple of cuts. So take it from me, on this the 45th birthday of this work, give it a spin before the end of the weekend and show this thing some respect. You may want to get good and loaded too, in tribute to Alice's self-admitted problems with alcohol.  

In observance of the 50th anniversary of Black Sabbath's debut LP

This week Heavy Metal enthusiasts far and wide auspiciously observed a milestone 50 year anniversary for our founding fathers' debut album, the 1970 self-titled masterpiece that redefined music for generations to come. That last sentence reeks of cliche', I know, but really there is no other way of succinctly encapsulating the importance of that piece of wax that was ironically released on a friday the 13th a half of a century ago. I've thought about this long and hard, about the desert island question, where one is asked (or asks themselves in the case of friendless trolls such as I) about the one piece of music that they would absolutely have to take with them. Well, for me it wouldn't necessarily be the debut, but it would definitely be something between Paranoid and Never Say Die. Of course, taste is subjective, but the point is that Black Sabbath, after careful deliberation, are the authors of the ONE piece of music that I just can't live without. Punto!   

This morning, while getting lost in contemplation over this topic, I was reminded that I had written a piece back in 2013 after having seen them in Palm Beach for the online version of my old fanzine, the legendary (in my own mind) Tales Of Perversion. 

I went back to revisit for Auld Lang Syne and quite frankly I had forgotten what a great article this was. I laughed out loud a couple of times; yeah that's right, this hard-nosed sonofabitch was giggling like a schoolgirl. Those of you who actually read this blog and have familiarized themselves with my self-deprecating tone would well know that I don't toot my own horn needlessly, so take my word, it's an entertaining read. It's lengthy! I believe that they would call it a "feature" in the journalism racket; but stick with it it's worth it... 

Anyways, here is the link, you smelly little pink... enjoy!

Fear and Loathing at a Black Sabbath Concert (Aug. 2013)

Sabbat: Obscure but influential first wave Black Metal from Japan

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I have long held a reverence for all things Japanese ever since I can remember. This is especially true of any heavy music that makes it to my waxy American ears all the way over from that magical little island nation which I will one day visit and have weird sex in. Sabbat is a credit to Japan's extreme music history, having been one of the early bands to pioneer what would go on to be known as Black Metal (or greatly influence it at the very least.) Long before the existence of an internet which facilitated the exchange of concepts and ideas beyond geographical borders, an international underground phenomenon was occurring amongst a handful of bands scattered across the globe in points like Canada, Brazil, Sweden, Switzerland and Japan, connected only via snail mail (ah, the early tape trading days.) This movement is what we now in current day have labeled as the first wave of Black Metal. This was before blast-beats and corpse paint, it was before Mayhem and Darkthrone, before all of the arson and murder shenanigans that went on in Norway, it was before Appalachian and before Crazy Joe decided to take on a boss and start a war. (Reference!)

Throughout the years, Sabbat's sound has gone back and forth from Thrash-like, proto-Black Metal to a more traditional Heavy Metal sound (very much in the way that later on the likes of Darkthrone would experiment with.) Since this was before the Norwegian influence which gave way to a more stripped down sound devoid of virtuosic displays, Sabbat have never been shy to show proficiency with their instruments. Their songs pay mind to a basic verse-bridge-chorus-breakdown type of structure, in other words every song isn't like a blast-beat and feedback-fest for three minutes a pop. There are layers to their songwriting.

(Goddamnit I know that there has to be a more succinct way to phrase that last sentence!) 

Since "Black Thrash", or blackened Thrash, actually went on to become a thing -another microgenre- well then, I present you to one of its undeniable forefathers. The question is, where to begin with these scantily clad minions of Satan. Sabbat's career has been insanely prolific and just picking a jump-off with which to familiarize yourself with them can be a daunting task. They've dropped nine proper studio joints. They have a series of about forty-nine live albums recorded from just about everywhere on Earth (okay maybe a couple are bootlegs). Now I'll mention their twenty-six EPs, and the fact that they have appeared on twenty-one splits! That's quite a repertoire tucked snuggly into the waistband of those leather speedos that they've donned for four decades (blech, the marriage of old leather and testicle sweat over the span of forty years... fucking gross!)

my personal Sabbat headstash

You could go with any of their proper full-lengths and you wouldn't go wrong; Sabbat always delivers the goods with no filler when they put together an album. However, I am going to recommend their debut LP Envenom. This is where I jumped off strictly based on the fact that it was their first album (with Sabbat I steered my venture into their work chronologically for lack of any other reference.) That being said, this is as raw as they get musically. downright primitive, and there are two numbers on here that rule extremely hard (in my opinion) and are noteworthy. I am referring to Sabbat's rite of benediction titled "Satan Bless You" and the brute, barbaric "King Of Hell". 

First of all, how great is the title of the latter song mentioned. I have adopted the phrase "Satan Bless You" into my everyday life, just to fuck with the heads of the civilians that I'm forced to interact with daily for professional reasons. There is always that one asshole at the store or the gas station that has to slip in a "have a blessed day" as they hand you your change. I just place my hand over heart, humbly bow my head and reply "Satan bless you!" They just look back at me like if I just climbed out of a window at Bellevue! ( I am sooo adversarial!) The other joint, "King Of Hell" is a five-minute clubbing over the head via downtempo drums and a crude, five-chord riff that just oozes Linda Blair split-pea soup. This song is also more than likely where that big dummy from Gorgoroth got his 'infernal' stage name.

"King Of Hell" aside, Sabbat doesn't monkey around in down-pace for too long. These guys typically thrash out at full-speed-ahead with shred solos everywhere. I would say a roundabout comparison in sound would be like Morbid Visions-era Sepultura or even early Sodom but with not as many rough edges. Not that Sabbat is overly polished, but it certainly isn't "necro" sounding, or choppy and sloppy on the production like that Sepultura joint is, for example. Also, I'd say that Sabbat exhibits a bit better musicianship than Sepultura (at that point in their career) and/or Sodom. Just an opinion...

So give good ol' Gezol and the boys a listen if commercial Metal isn't your thing but yet you still feel a hankering for some cult, underground Metal. Sabbat is a highly enjoyable throwback, a hand in hand stroll with the ghost of Black Thrash past! Now go listen to "Devil Worship" off of this record and then commit bloody harakiri with your "Satanasword".  

Paul Chain, the master of vintage Italian Doom

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Well, here we go with the lead-in music review for 2020, the Chinese year of the Metal Rat. The new Midnight album hasn't arrived at my new prison cell yet so it won't be the first review of the year as I previously thought. In the meantime, to avoid giving the devil something to play with, I will commit my idle hands to pecking away at these keys on my laptop and make like I'm Kurt Loder. Yeah, Kurt Loder... more like Kurt Loaded! 

I went digging through the archives for some good Metal worthy of mentioning and found endless selections appropriate for analysis. I couldn't make up my mind on what to select until I arrived at the P section and stumbled across my old friend from the boot Paolo Catena, AKA Paul Chain the cult Italian master of Doom Metal, which I haven't heard in a minute. With grey skies pouring rain over Miami that friday I thought to myself "what better atmosphere for this masterpiece?" So I popped two Ativans and began getting good and stoned to this ominous, skinny guinea. 

Paul Chain is also particularly worthy of giving mention because despite his extremely prolific career, he is still relatively obscure in Metal circles, despite a strong cult following. Even after the Doom Metal explosion of the last decade, which caused an influx of new congregants hungry to discover the forebearers of their new faith, it was the Sleeps, Pentagrams and the Saint Vitus' of the world that were more often the dusty record-bin finds while this obscure artistic gem remained a stone unturned.  

The story of Paul Chain as a solo entity begins in 1984 when he split from the Occult/Horror-Metal group Death SS, of which he was the lead guitarist and organist. Chain tried keeping Death SS around even after the departure of singer Stefano Silvestri (stage name Steve Sylvester) who walked away from the whole thing, probably to go pursue his Ordo Templi Orientis bullshit (I speculate, but he really was a member though.) Chain saw this as an opportune moment to venture out and start a project where he could explore free-form musical experimentation a little further, only this time without all of the occult imagery or negative connotations of Death SS, and so Paul Chain Violet Theatre was born. 

Chain's first EP on his own, the holy Detaching From Satan, was released the same year of the split from Death SS. It was put out on the highly influential Italian Metal label Minotauro Records, a label which Chain would later go on to become the in-house producer and art director for. As its title suggests, this record was the virtuoso's way of distancing himself from the diabolical themes of his previous musical endeavor. Himself a Christian, Chain could not have been too choked up with the shock-rock gimmickry and occult shenanigans for which Death SS was notorious for. However, don't let his faith be a deterrent from peeping this cat out if you are worried that all you'll get from his releases is proselytizing. There isn't any of that; in fact Paul Chain really doesn't sing about anything! The vocals of any given Paul Chain release feature a phonetic language of Chain's creation which is nothing more than gibberish for the sake of having vocals. There are Christian themes present in a lot of the imagery he uses which are used for context more than anything (which by the way, are equally as dark as any Occult referencing on behalf of any given Metal band.) But as far as his sullen howling, he isn't exactly reciting the book of Psalms so don't worry you won't start foaming at the mouth or convulsing if you play this record on Easter Sunday.

I've read before, here or there, where Chain is referred to as the Italian answer to Black Sabbath. While some may interpret this a high praise, and indeed it could be, I almost feel like it sells Paul Chain short in a strange way because the improvisational elements of his music really set him apart from the mighty masters. Sure, to conjure the Sabs as a reference point is fine if you're looking to describe what to generally expect from Paul Chain, but his tendency to go off on musical tangents distinguishes him from any would-be figure of influence. (The two bonus tracks on the CD version of Detaching From Satan are as good an example of this point as any.) Ask yourself this, who has ever seen or heard Tony Iommi do a 20 minute improvisation of "War Pigs"? My point exactly...  

(Also, just to mention in passing, Chain has been more prolific as far as putting out work than Sabbath throughout their span of like thirty vocalists... I'm just sayin'...)

There is also a creep factor in Chain's sound that is not present to such an unsettling level in any other "Doom" band, even in the overly-mentioned (in this article) Sabbath. Detaching From Satan is particularly eerie among his work as Violet Theatre. It has a ghostly, mournful presence beyond anything that can be conjured by mere use of diminished fifths and warm early '80s production value. 

The dismally lo-fi intro is reminiscent of the maddening sound trickery that made late '70s/early '80s Italian horror movies that much more terrifying. Still even more chilling is the choral re-adaptation (in Italian lyrics) of a Bach composition before the straightforward Metal riff of this EPs second track titled "Armageddon". Detaching From Satan also features the Paul Chain classic "Voyage To Hell". This track would later be revisited on the follow-up release to this by co-conspirator Lee Dorrian (of Napalm Death/Cathedral/Rise Above Records fame); but Dorrian's vocal rendition doesn't match the savage snear in Chain's voice on this original version. On the vinyl version of this release, track 4 closes the ceremonies with the sluggish pace of "17 Day". This is a number in true Doom Metal fashion, plodding along in its lethargic tempo, and then breaking down into Chain's disturbing organ playing that lends a severely stern tone of condemnation. Detaching From Satan will give you the fucking creeps -very much in the same way a Catholic church gives you the creeps, as a candlelit effigy of it's humiliated, gored and slain messiah hangs nailed to the altar like a bloody memo.

My personal Paul Chain headstash (not including mp3 downloads)

I recommend the CD version of the EP for the two extra tracks as a jump-off. The vinyl edition of this probably isn't cheap and you can pursue it later on if the CD tickles your pickle. The two extras, "Pentagon Society" and "Vivid Eyes Of The Dark" are both improvisations that were released as a 12" EP (also in 1984) under the name Paul Chain The Improviser. That's two songs clocking in at close to two hours -de pinga! I haven't seen the vinyl version but I can tell you that the CD version comes with a really beautiful layout which Minotauro Records did a really outstanding job on. Also, the recording quality of "Vivid Eyes Of The Dark" might be agonizingly bad on the vinyl version because it's certainly close to an ear-sore on the CD pressing of this. It's a goddamn shame too, because "Vivid Eyes" is probably one of his more haunting improvisations. 

Yo, don't dick around in your slumber any longer and join the cult following. I assure you this is something really special, really cult sounding and it is miles from all of the Doom Metal that you think you may known until now. Hook up, ASAP! Hit the link, you smelly pink, and go to Discogs and cop Detaching From Satan by Paul Chain, you'll fucking love it if you dig traditional Doom Metal, or just dark, vintage Metal.

Belgrado... yet more post-Punk from Barcelona, Spain. My first musical obsession for 2020...

Okay, okay, don't get your 'Cronos-from-Venom' leather thong in a twist! I know that in the previous post I had promised to start discussing a little bit more Metal and Rock to break the monotonous Punk bent that I've been on here lately but this is some fire from my mother country (supposedly) that I need to document. Belgrado is my first musical obsession for the year 2020. I have a throbbing, bulbous, veiny ear-ection with their band logo printed all over it (well, most of it, as much as I can fit), one that won't die down until their entire discography to date is delivered to my doorstep where it will be guarded for posterity. That's right, my resistance to vinyl records is now over and Belgrado's work should be arriving shortly at my new residence (don't make me say it, please.) Shout out to Discogs!

I discovered Belgrado while researching their fellow Barcelona band SECT for the last review that I posted. SECT features Belgrado's lead singer, Polish born Patrycja Proniewska on the drums, as in way in the back... as in, where she can't be seen. Fuck that! Belgrado puts Proniewska right where she needs to be, at the forefront! This broad has got it, man, she's a fucking star... absolutely spectacular!

That's not to take away from the rest of the band who play super tight, but Proniewska is a triple threat- she possesses a great spectral voice, she has got an understated but strong stage presence and she has a look that seems as if it were sculpted specifically for this band's sound. I mean just look at her face- she is a dead ringer for Siouxsie Sioux. She's like an odd doll that's equal parts pretty and creepy all at the same time. I haven't been this excited about a frontwoman since Alia O'Brien from Blood Ceremony (another ginormous talent, and smoking hot to boot!)

I won't bother trying to review this crew, rather I'll let their video clip do the talking for them. After all, that's how they hooked me in! However, I will reiterate what I've stated previously in the SECT review; which is that Belgrado are sort of like a female-fronted Bauhaus who carry switchblade knives. The video clip that I've inserted below was my first exposure to them. I was hooked instantly to this infectious song, regardless of the fact that the lyrics are in Polish. I couldn't get the song out of my head (nor Proniewska's powerful glaring eyes) and would find myself revisiting this video repeatedly for days. Their total available output is out there for taste-testing thanks to their Bandcamp page and Youtube, and if this song tickles your fancy then believe me it's only the tip of the iceberg with these cats. The deep cuts are even better than this video single is. 

Now viddy well, little brothers and sisters, viddy well... 

Come on, that was fantastic! The song itself is great, so moody and full of that type of character that makes this genre so appealing to me. The drummer stands out in this track with some cool hi-hat trickery that lends much rhythm to the verse parts. Music aside, the visual presentation of this video is classic, bearing all the quintessential aesthetic trappings that lends this genre part of its 'artsy' air. Their music accompanied by those angular, monochrome camera shots of architectural structures and Roman style columns, interspersed with shots of the band all form a motif -a total package of art with a foreboding yet infectious tone.     

I've also included a link below to another Youtube video, this one from a live performance at the Sao Paolo Cultural Center in Brazil. They played a great set having been able to have gotten a reasonably good sound at that joint, and a stoic Proniewska gave a solid performance even while sustaining herself on a cane to comfort what looked like a sprain or fracture of the right foot. She stood there and delivered the goods like a fucking boss! She's a badass bitch! Anyways, I have bitten the bait and hopefully you will too. See for yourself by hitting the link, you smelly pink... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goVYtB89cB4

Belgrado's work, as well as releases by their Greek post-Punk labelmates Chain Cult can be copped from La Vida Es Un Mus Records. Check out the label's page, it seems as if the imprint is pretty prolific...