The Chameleons, “Monkeyland”
Lev Weinstein of Krallice introduced Kevin and I at a Dark Castle show. Kevin had seen a band I was in open for Mark Burgess of The Chameleons at The Bell House and I think we spent the rest of the conversation talking about how great they were. I loved that he was explaining to me that certain production ideas he had used on the last Dysrhythmia record were inspired by the guitar work of Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding.
Blut Aus Nord, “Disciples Libration (Lost in the Nine Words)”
Memoria Vestusta II: Dialogue With Stars is a huge inspiration. Something about the universe of French black metal, in particular those who blur genre boundaries and push into less traditional territory. We're big fans of practically Vindsval's entire catalog, but in particular the mixture of lushness and melody, darkness and aggression on this record is special.
Comus, “Drip, Drip”
There are works, like La Jetée, that no matter how tiresome they seem to become when people talk about really special moments in art, just still have undeniable power. The universe and the feeling they create is so effecting and singular, yet so full of ideas that there's always something new to take away. Comus' record First Utterance is like that.
Bob Theil, “Who Are We Now?”
I discovered this record on a blog at some point during the writing of 'Selenelion' and fell in love. I sent it to Kevin and he fell in love, too. Again, it's that combination of romantic melodies underpinned by a really pervasive bleakness that we love. Not to mention lots of 12 string.
David Sylvian, “The Boy With The Gun”
It's a weird, but reasonable question: is this a pop record? The songs are so striking and memorable, yet the tone isn't anything anyone would ever think of as pop. Not to mention the lyrics aren't exactly every-person-friendly. That's a really enviable space to land in. Also, the the way varied styles, from ambient and electronic to guitar driven ballads to jazz, work together on this but retain the same mood is really cool.
Queensrÿche, “The Whisper”
You might be hard pressed to find a band that takes Rage For Order as seriously as we do. All the conceptual melodrama, commitment to minor key, and brooding synthesizers that made Queensrÿche an easy target for so many years, to us are their strengths. Something about the fact that all of us were into it growing up almost certainly has something to do with the way Vaura's aesthetic jelled.
Fields of the Nephilim, “At the Gates of Silent Memory”
If you listen to the music and don't think too much about the apocalyptic cowboy outfits and Aleister Crowley samples, it's not surprising to find out that Pink Floyd veteran engineer Andy Jackson was working with Fields of the Nephilim at this point. Tracks like this are impressive for dynamics and arrangement, the musicianship is impeccable, and it's completely psychedelic and transportive.
SWANS, “Beautiful Child”
The industrial/tribal/ritualistic feel of SWANS is something that we seem to bring up a lot…
King Diamond, “The 7th Day of July, 1777”
Toby digs King Diamond. The topic of Abigail ended up being a recurring one during the recording sessions.
Deathspell Omega, “The Shrine of Mad Laughter”
Untouchable.
