DIE ANTWOORD @ The Bellwether // 11. 2.24 // THE PORTABLE INFINITE

 

All photos taken by Martin Worster   

The Story of the Church on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CLEOPATRA ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF THE GOTH MUSIC DOCUMENTARY FILM DARK SANCTUARY: THE STORY OF THE CHURCH     The Story of the Longest Running Goth Club in the US  and the Community of Artists and Misfits Who Called  the Dallas TX Club, The Church, Their Sanctuary   [Blu-ray] [DVD] 1/21/25

Cleopatra Entertainment is excited to announce the Jan 21st release of DARK SANCTUARY: The Story Of The Church on Blu-ray, DVD and digitally. A documentary produced and directed by Timothy Stevens, the film is about the infamous Dallas goth club and the community of artists and outsiders that called it home.   DARK SANCTUARY: The Story Of The Church features interviews with influential artists cEvin Key (Skinny Puppy), Patrick Codenys (Front 242), Bill Leeb (Front Line Assembly), Paul Oakenfold, Claude S. (Anything Box), and many more.      cEvin Key co-wrote the title track for the film, which sheds light on the incredible effect this venue had on the lives of its patrons and the community that formed within it. The film also spotlights Joe Virus - the club's longtime DJ - and his journey finding a home at the club in the early 90s through the club's closing during the pandemic, and his feelings of loss and alienation at the passing of an era.  The film has been gathering rave reviews after its official selection at the Dallas International Film Festival (USA) and the KNON Film Festival (USA) as it continues to tour the international film festival circuit throughout the remainder of this year, with upcoming additional selections to be announced soon. Says Stevens, “We couldn't be more excited to release thru Cleopatra Entertainment given their street cred with fans of dark alternative music. The Church is the Studio 54 of goth clubs, and it's a piece of music history the world needs to know about."   DARK SANCTUARY: The Story Of The Church will be released as follows:  January 12th - BLU-RAY/DVD   January 21st - TVOD   April 22nd - SVOD and AVOD     A separate, stand-alone Digital Audio Soundtrack featuring original music by Joe Virus will also be released in conjunction with the film’s release.         OFFICIAL TRAILER: https://vimeo.com/895370441/973f621565     PRE-ORDER DVD HERE: https://a.co/d/0tpw5AG PRE-ORDER BLU-RAY HERE: https://a.co/d/dfCZrc6

TEMPERS share new single "Ghost Rider (Suicide Cover)" ahead of upcoming US / EU tour dates

TEMPERS - Share new single "Ghost Rider (Suicide Cover)" - US / EU tour dates this month

Photo credit: Marilu Donovan Tempers is the New York based project of singer and songwriter Jasmine Golestaneh, melting low-lit poetic synth-pop with hints of techno, shoegaze and post-punk. Today they share their cover of Suicide's iconic "Ghost Rider" ahead of their upcoming US and EU tour dates.  On the track, Golestaneh said "Suicide was a formative influence on Tempers, and for me 'Ghost Rider' is a song that represents prioritizing the health of society over personal greed, a value that is as deeply pertinent today as it was in the 70's when this song was released." Golestaneh adds "'We were talking about society’s suicide, especially American society,' Alan Vega. This quote rings true now more than ever before. My cover of Suicide’s 'Ghost Rider' is dedicated to what I hope people will continue to fight to overcome in the coming years: economic disparity, systemic injustice, misogyny, women's reproductive rights, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, gun control, a ceasefire in Gaza, the climate crisis and saving the planet from extinction, too much to mention, but please let’s prioritize the health of society over personal greed." Tempers interpretation of "Ghost Rider" expresses its spirit of angst and alienation, via gritty and hypnotic soundscapes propelled by Golestaneh’s unleashed ethereal vocals. The track features detuned harp  by guest musician Marilu Donovan (LEYA), acoustic and electric guitars, synth and drum machine.  Produced by Golestaneh, "Ghost Rider" was recorded at home in New York’s East Village, together with Tempers’ touring musician Henry Yuliano playing additional instruments, recording and mixing. The song anticipates a run of festival and headline dates starting from Seattle 11/7 and expanding to Europe, with more touring in the US, South America and Europe confirmed for 2025.  Listen to "Ghost Rider (Suicide Cover)" here: https://youtu.be/13SRdYT1tx8 Widely influenced by Fleetwood Mac via Kraftwerk to Joy Division and upbringing between London and New York, Tempers evolved quickly into their singular identity on debut album 'Services', including underground dancefloor hit 'Strange Harvest'. The 2017 EP 'Fundamental Fantasy' was released as a result of The Vinyl Factory’s Volcano Extravaganza artist residency on the Aeolian island of Stromboli. Golestaneh’s interest in the arts led to the 2018 release 'Junkspace feat. Rem Koolhaas' (BMG), a concept album set in a shopping mall, collaborating with the famed architect through samples of interviews deconstructing the architecture of consumerism. 2019's full length 'Private Life' progressed Tempers’ cinematic aesthetic into more introspective landscapes, and featured their most popular track to date, 'Capital Pains'. The third album on Dais Records 'New Meaning’ released in 2022, includes the single ‘Unfamiliar’ and 3D animated video-art for ‘Sightseeing’. The record is accompanied by a book of album inspired hand made collage art by Golestaneh (Moonlight Editions). In 2022 Tempers evolved from a duo setup with producer Eddie Cooper to an enhanced set of collaborations, both live and on recordings, led by Jasmine Golestaneh. Recent highlights include festivals like Substance LA, Sanctum Chicago, Levitation Austin, Hipnosis Mexico, Synästhesie Berlin, Grauzone The Hague, special events like at the Andy Warhol Museum Pittsburgh and sold out headline shows at Elsewhere Brooklyn, Zebulon LA, Kantine am Berghain Berlin and Moth Club London. Jasmine has just completed her upcoming longplay album with producer Jorge Elbrecht (Sky Ferreira, Japanese Breakfast)  between New York and Los Angeles See Tempers live: 07 Nov US - SEATTLE - Freakout Festival 09 Nov DE - BERLIN - 8MM Festival: “A Night of Synästhesie" 13 Nov DE - FRANKFURT - Tanzhaus West 14 Nov CH - AARAU - KIFF 15 Nov DE - NÜRNBERG - Soft Spot 16 Nov DE - DRESDEN - Cold Hearted Festival 18 Nov CZ - PRAGUE - Bike Jesus 19 Nov CZ - BRNO - Kabinet MUZ 20 Nov AT - SALZBURG - Rockhouse Eleven Empire 22 Nov HU - BUDAPEST - A38 23 Nov ES - MADRID - Santuario Festival Artwork: Links: Website Instagram Facebook Bandcamp

Laibach Share Their Interpretation Of "Strange Fruit" || 'Opus Dei Revisited' Out 12/13 On Mute

LAIBACH SHARE THEIR INTERPRETATION OF “STRANGE FRUIT”   OPUS DEI REVISITED OUT 12/13 ON MUTE   TOURING IN EUROPE & UK CONTINUES IN 2025

Photo courtesy of Laibach   Today LAIBACH have announced details of “Strange Fruit”, a three-track single release that follows their recent single “The Future” (Leonard Cohen). This unique interpretation of the haunting protest song has been featured in their ongoing Opus Dei tour (which continues into 2025, full dates are listed below), and precedes the band’s Opus Dei Revisited double album (out December 13, 2024 on Mute). Watch the video for Laibach’s “Strange Fruit” HERE. Billie Holiday recorded her iconic version of “Strange Fruit” on April 20, 1939. The track, originally written by Jewish school teacher Abel Meeropol (using the pseudonym Lewis Allen), was in response to lynching in US southern states. A year later, Meeropol, a socialist, was called to testify before a committee investigating communism and asked whether the US Communist Party had paid him to write “Strange Fruit”. Later, in 1999, it was named the song of the century by Time magazine. Laibach explain: “There’s something that’s still very radioactive about the song; it’s still relevant because race is still relevant. The impulses that Meeropol was talking about are very much still with us, on the front pages of our newspapers and across our social media every day. For us, ‘Strange Fruit’ evokes racial injustice, representing not just lynchings, but racism generally.” They expand, “Racism is a virus that mutates, taking on different forms as it adapts to a changing environment. Its mutation is made harder to observe by it being deeply embedded, not only in our traditions and institutions, but also in our unconscious lives.” Laibach's interpretation of this famous protest song is aimed at this new context of eternal but ever-changing and adaptive racism.  “Strange Fruit” follows May’s remastered edition of Laibach’s classic meditation on freedom and fascism, Opus Dei. Their 12-month salute to their 1987 album continues in December with the release of Opus Dei Revisited, which features two radical new interpretations of the album, one by Laibach, and the other by original producer Rico Conning. “Strange Fruit” is out on Mute across all digital platforms today. Opus Dei Revisited is out via Mute on 2LP / 2CD and digitally on December 13, 2024. Pre-order the album HERE.   LAIBACH – OPUS DEI TOUR: 2025: 2/7/2025 - Ljubljana, Kino Šiška, SI 2/16/2025 - Krakow, Kwadrat, PL 2/18/2025- Ostrava, Barrak, CZ 2/19/2025 - Vienna, Arena, AT 2/20/2025 - Jena, F-Haus, DE 2/21/2025 - Sittard, Poppodium Volt, NL 2/22/2025 - London, Islington Assembly Hall, UK 2/23/2025 - Manchester, Ritz, UK 2/24/2025 - Southampton, The 1865, UK 2/25/2025 - Bristol, Trinity Centre, UK 2/27/2025 - Lausanne, Les Docks, CH 2/28/2025 – Bologna, Link, IT 3/1/2025 - Nova Gorica, SNG Nova Gorica, SI 3/4/2025 - Skopje, Macedonian Philharmonic, MK 3/5/2025 - Athens, Gazarte, GR 3/6/2025 - Sofia, Pirotska 5, BG 3/7/2025 - Bucharest, Quantic Club, RO  3/8/2025 - Beograd, Dom Omladine, RS 3/21/2025 -  Maribor, Narodni dom, SI  Tickets and further information: https://www.laibach.org/future-events/

"Strange Fruit" track listing: 1. Strange Fruit (03:06) 2. Strange Fruit (Alternate version) (03:00) 3. Strange Fruit (Live from Lublin, May 28th 2024) (03:19)   Purchase or stream “Strange Fruit” HERE. RECENT RELEASES The Engine of Survival: https://mute.ffm.to/laibach_teos Love is Still Alive EP: https://mute.ffm.to/lb-lisa The Future: https://mute.ffm.to/laibach-tf Love Is Still Alive I (Moon, Euphoria): https://youtu.be/lQSqCvpAVQQ   CONNECT WITH MUTE: FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | TIK TOK | WEB

A Collection of Reimagined Versions of Songs From Guryan’s Classic Album Take a Picture Out Worldwide, This Friday, November 8th

As previously announced, On November 8th, Sub Pop will release Like Someone I Know: A Celebration of Margo Guryan, a 12-song compilation and homage to Guryan’s classic 1968 record, Take a Picture. Today, Sub Pop shared the final pre-release song, “What Can I Give You,” which was covered by Kate Bollinger. Click here to listen.
 
To celebrate the release of this compilation, there will be two DJ events throughout November in LA & Chicago. The first event will be on November 9th at Gold Diggers in Los Angeles with DJ Sets from Pearl & Oyster and Slyvie, with a following event on November 21st at the Empty Bottle with DJ Sets from St. Stephen and Ali Najdi. The LA event will feature a limited amount of screen-printed tote bags designed by Madalyn Stefanak for sale, so get there early to secure your bag. A portion of proceeds from these events and merch sales will be donated to providing and advocating for affordable reproductive health services. Both events are FREE to the public; click here for tickets in LA and here for tickets in Chicago.
 
This 12-song compilation features additional reinterpretations by contemporary artists such as Margo Price, TOPS, Clairo, Rahill, June McDoom, MUNYA + Kainalu, Frankie Cosmos + Good Morning, Kate Bollinger, Pearl & The Oysters, Bedouine + Sylvie, Barrie, and Empress Of. The release of Like Someone I Know: A Celebration of Margo Guryan also coincides with the third anniversary of Margo’s passing. A portion of proceeds from this album will be donated to providing and advocating for affordable reproductive health services.
 
Like Someone I Know: A Celebration Of Margo Guryan is available to preorder from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com (North America), Mega Mart 2 (UK/EU), and independent retailers worldwide will receive the limited Loser edition on Opaque Red vinyl (while stock lasts!).
 
Like Someone I Know: A Celebration Of Margo Guryan was produced by Izzy Fradin and Jonathan Rosner.
 
About Margo Guryan:
Most of our stories about cult musicians who make an album or two and then seem to vanish are framed by grief, despair, and frayed ambition. Not so with Margo Guryan, an ardent jazz anomaly who disdained pop music until hearing “God Only Knows” in 1966, opening a window onto the wonders that form could contain. Only two years later, she released her own set of little pop symphonies, Take a Picture, to great praise and expectation. But having already divorced the hard-gigging valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, she declined to tour or even talk about it all that much, content even if her reticence meant Take a Picture was soon consigned to discount racks and cutout bins. She wrote and recorded for years to come, even collaborating with Neil Diamond’s band, but mostly she seemed satisfied by her relatively private life—raising her stepson, Jonathan; carousing with a small clutch of pals; talking politics with whoever was game. Rather than a tragedy, Guryan was an ornate pop architect who also drew and lived by her boundaries.
 
But as befits music so stunning and subtle, Guryan, who died in 2021, has enjoyed several renaissances over the last few decades—multiple reissues and international intrigue, faithful champions who introduced her tender work to successive generations. And now, it’s happening again: Soon after her near-whispered and lovelorn hymn “Why Do I Cry” made her a TikTok star in 2021, the same year she passed, Numero Group launched a reissue campaign, resulting in the acclaimed 2024 set, Words and Music. And now, a dozen artists—none of whom were born when Take a Picture was made, most of whom weren’t even born for a crucial early reissue by Franklin Castle—have reinterpreted and reimagined that entire album (plus one bonus track) for Like Someone I Know: A Celebration of Margo Guryan. Empress Of, Margo Price, Clairo, June McDoom: They all affirm Guryan’s sharpness as a songwriter and the brilliance of an album that has far outstripped whatever promotional cycle Guryan rejected so long ago.

Guryan was born to a sprawling family in a home so big it housed multiple generations just before World War II in Far Rockaway, back when the place was still mostly framed by trees. Her family was matrilineal, with a mother who worked as a radiologist while her father played piano at home and a widowed grandmother who ran the place with unwavering sovereignty. While still a composition student at Boston University, Guryan stumbled into a gig playing piano between Miles Davis Quintet sets, signed a songwriting deal with Atlantic Records, and botched a session with Nesuhi Ertegun. But she wasn’t looking to be a singing star, anyway. In 1959, she headed to the foundational Lenox School of Jazz in the Berkshires, staving off advances from her contemporaries to write for Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, earn the attention of instructor Max Roach, and made a longtime mentor and friend of Gunther Schuller. She became an accomplished lyricist, writing not only for Coleman and Nancy Harrow but also for Harry Belafonte and Gary MacFarland.
 
But it was that subsequent encounter with the Beach Boys that opened the trap door for Guryan to Take a Picture and scores of other super songs, many of which appear on Words and Music. Take a Picture is a sophisticated survey of mid-20s romance and indecision, from the flirty romp of “Sunday Morning” and falling-for-you affirmation “Can You Tell” to the desperate helplessness of “What Can I Give You.” In less than 150 seconds, “Thoughts” traces a relationship from its ecstatic start to empty end, Guryan’s pillowtop voice sitting perfectly between the bouncing piano and lachrymose strings. She mines nostalgia for the recent past in “Someone I Know” and, quite brilliantly, for something that hasn’t even ended yet in the title cut.
What remains astonishing about Take a Picture is how placid and nice the surface can seem yet how much is going on just beneath it—the difficult rhythmic shifts, the textural juxtapositions, the dissonance and eeriness lurking in the crevices. Twice as long as almost everything else here, the willfully psychedelic excursion and closer, “Love,” is a jarring semaphore, telling you to go back and listen for the intricacies in everything else. “When do you get to be someone who can give/And live without hurting someone you love?” she coos over caustic guitar and curling organ, the question spilling in reverse over the rest of the record.
 
Those mirrored senses of slyness and meticulousness, both musical and lyrical, presided over Guryan’s output long after any idea of stardom had faded. She turned earthquake danger into existential boogie on “California Shake,” celebrated the outlaws and their long odds during “I’d Like to See the Bad Guys Win,” and danced with entendre during “Come to Me Slowly.” Indeed, Guryan was not afraid of mischief, whether lampooning the president and all his men during a three-song suite about Watergate or presaging Rihanna by half a century on “Under My Umbrella.” Her perpetually soft voice, audacious songcraft, and complete candor: Guryan, in 1968 and beyond, was making daring music, no matter how gently those sounds seemed to move.
 
A portion of proceeds being donated to providing and advocating for affordable reproductive health services, Like Someone I Know reinforces the strength of Guryan’s songs by allowing a dozen different artists to take them for trips of their own. The core always remains, unwavering. McDoom stretches static and harmony beneath “Thoughts,” as if they’re spinning on a dub plate beneath her arcing vocals. Rahill lets “Sun” unfurl over harmonium drone and entrancing percussive ticks, digging into Guryan’s interest in the surreal. Frankie Cosmos and Good Morning take a country shuffle through “Take a Picture,” entwined vocals falling over the rhythmic skips with perfect romantic relish. Over the last few decades, it has become increasingly clear just how good Guryan was, how sturdy her songs have been amid varying tides of taste. Like Someone I Know offers absolute validation, a testament to the enduring relevance and brilliance of Guryan’s work.

Various Artists
Like Someone I Know: A Celebration Of Margo Guryan
 
Tracklisting:
1. Sunday Morning (TOPS)
2. Sun (Rahill)
3. Love Songs (Clairo)
4. Thoughts (June McDoom)
5. Don’t Go Away (MUNYA | Kainalu)
6. Take a Picture (Frankie Cosmos |Good Morning)
7. What Can I Give You (Kate Bollinger)
8. Think of Rain (Pearl & The Oysters)
9. Can You Tell (Bedouine | Sylvie)
10. Someone I Know (Empress Of)
11. Love (Barrie)
12. California Shake (Margo Price)

Goth originators Sex Beat captured live in the darkest places

Goth originators Sex Beat captured live in the darkest places   Los Angeles, California: From the birthplace of post-punk and goth rock, London's legendary Batcave club, comes the first ever full-length collection of recordings by one of the bands that defined the era, Sexbeat!   Formed by Batcave DJ Hamish MacDonald, Sexbeat never recorded a full studio album.  But their 1984 recording of the scene-defining "Sexbeat" remains one of the crucial dance tracks of the Batcave era, and was elected #9 on Rolling Stone's Top 50 goth tracks.  Sex Beat also cut another of the year's most electrifying singles, the beat-driven, chant-laden “Pump," and they were a constant presence on the live scene of the day, not only at the Batcave but elsewhere, too.   Releasing on November 29, Live at the Batcave and Other Dark Places captures the Sexbeat experience as its most torrid.  But, if you can’t wait that long, there’s also a new single, the audience favorite “Girls,” recorded at London’s Lyceum in 1984.   SINGLE: https://orcd.co/sexbeat_girlslyceum1984   Lost for decades, these historic live recordings offer a livid portrait of one of the era’s most pivotal acts - frontman MacDonald, bassist Sophie Chéry, drummer Linzi Light - in front of one of the most loyal audiences.    Hamish says, “We recorded most of these tracks live on stage in London in 1984, me, Sophie and Linzi, with various guitarists. Strung out on the mainstream rush, Sex Pistols’ backline, wearing leather, lace and Lycra, we took our chance. It was trash glam punk, a metropolitan mysticism, born out of what we created in those early Batcave days. It was girls and boys and all the rhymes and reasons. We rocked.”   “Pump,” of course is among the album’s highlights, and so is “Sexbeat,” which despite its pedigree, waited 40 years for release (as a standalone single on purple Cleopatra Records vinyl). But there is so much more here to relish, more than a dozen songs that fans have waited four decades to hear again - and presented here with full digital remastering, and exclusive (and revealing) liners by Hamish MacDonald himself.   “Furiously and Curiouser,” “Dogs Made Love,” “Voodoo Man,” “Violent Elation,” “We Will Come And See You” - these are the songs around which the Gothic Rock movement of the day evolved, and whose influence hung heavy across all who saw and heard the band.   Live at the Batcave and Other Dark Places will ensure that Sexbeat’s audience is set to grow even larger, and their memory spread even further.  The beat goes on forever.   CD/VINYL: https://cleorecs.com/search?q=sexbeat+live+at+the+batcave DIGITAL: https://orcd.co/sexbeat_liveatthebatcave   Track listing 1. Girls 2. Dogs Made Love 3. Death 4. Furiously and Curiouser 5. Here It Comes Again 6. Living In The Wild 7. Sweat 8. Sexbeat 9. Pump 10. Metropolis 11. Voodoo Man 12. Here It Comes Again 13. Voodoo Man 14. Sexbeat 15. Pump 16. Metropolis 17. Violent Elation 18. Swinging London 19. We Will Come And See You 20. Baby and Johnny 21. Sexbeat     CLEOPATRA RECORDS, INC. Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Cleopatra Records Store  www.CleopatraRecords.com