 Some musicians are meant to be heard but not seen - merely an auditory experience and nothing more. IAMX, on the other hand, isn’t merely a band… it’s an event - a full-on aural and visual attack with the dynamic and inimitable English musician and songwriter Chris Corner (of Sneaker Pimps) leading the charge. With the European marketplace going bonkers for his blend of dramatic synth-rock, darkness-infused pop, and intricately-constructed indie dance, IAMX, currently based in Berlin, has been headlining festivals in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Poland, etc. and sharing the stage with Placebo, Franz Ferdinand, and The Cardigans among others. Like an 80s electro glam soundtrack to a Jan Švankmajer film or an almost unfathomable hybrid between the sexy swagger of Prince and the cool and collected respectability of Roxy Music, IAMX mixes Chris’ erotically-charged vocals with music that is, at once, frantic yet controlled. With such strikingly cinematic songs as the waltzy drama of “President” to the percussive sexual predatory dirtiness of “The Negative Sex” to the indelibly infectious synthpop of the sweeping “Spit It Out”, The Alternative is exactly just that - the alternative to the cookie-cutter music scene that dominates the airwaves. Considering the rabid reception he receives from his performances, it seems it’s time for the masses to latch onto The Alternative. (www.last.fm) There's a fabulous IAMX article on The Village Voice web site dated September 5, 2008. IAMX performed on a NYC street and was shut down by the NYC police. Here's a link to the web site, which includes video of the performance:
 KRISTEENYOUNG is a piano/keyboard and drums “rock” duo, in the golden years sense of the word, when rock was simultaneously adventurous, original, scary and fun. The pair is made up of singer, writer, pianist/keyboardist, Kristeen Young and drummer “Baby” Jeff White. Kristeen’s distinctive voice is the best new voice in rock. She bashes, slams and bangs her piano/keyboard in a rock-riff manner, while running it through effects pedals to make it sound like a cross between a piano and guitar. Baby Jeff pummels the drums like a modern-day John Bonham.
Click on this link to watch KRISTEENYOUNG sing Depression Contest
at Fearless MusicTV (prepare to be blown away!): www.youtube.com/watch Black Tie Dynasty
www.blacktiedynasty.com www.myspace.com/blacktiedynasty  Any self-respecting child of the uber-days of new wave, the early 1980s, with its look-into-the-mirror-darkly synth and high drama dance tendencies, will immediately recognize the pitched personas that these Dallas lads inhabit like a second skin. Although some mistaken reviewers continue to lump them in the generic bin of Depeche Mode and the Cure for reasons unknown to me, they are a much better fit in the vinyl echoes of Ultravox and the Church, among others. The drums are subtly syncopated, precise yet not too stiffly preserved sounding, the vocals ebb and flow with dynamic tropes that Morrissey would admit to liking a helluva lot more than copycats inflexions Smoking Popes, the guitar whirls and writhes in sinewy U2 bent and fragile landscapes, and the song Tender is destined to be a big step towards a devoted following of boys with a tad bit of eyeliner make-up and girls with a tongue ready for metro sexual myopic men. Like Icelands endless days and nights, the chill is omnipresent, and the song titles brevity and directness are akin to titles for black and white photography: Midnight Sun, Antarctica, even Lakes. Each serves as a repository for both a wink at the past, when new romanticism and Goth and post-punk fishtailed into each other in pleasant dreams, and each also provides an amalgam of sounds that are both familiar and fleeting, as they should be.
(www.last.fm) Feeding Fingers
www.justincurfman.com/music.htm www.myspace.com/thefeedingfingers  “Feeding Fingers” is the latest musical side-project of animator/multi-media artist, Justin Curfman. They are a three piece goth/new-wave/darkwave group whose work is reminiscent of early The Cure, Depeche Mode, Church, Cocteau Twins, etc.
…with their often minimalist and hypnotic percussive elements… Droning yet fluid and dynamic bass structures… heavily sustained guitar work… bizarre dream-inspired lyrics… (“…today I found an animal’s mouth in a bag of broken hands…”) They have a definite appeal to those who crave an element of dark surrealism in their music. (www.last.fm) The band melds post-punk, new wave, goth-rock and pop into something that sounds as if Bauhaus, Joy Division, (very early) U2, and Chrome were having an orgy.
-Charley Lee / Flagpole Magazine " a slim, yet powerful treat that delivers the goods and exits with all fury intact. Each track is ruthless, crisp, and hard-hitting, exploring and updating the manic darkness of The Birthday Party and the catchiness of Bauhaus while adding a dash of minimal synth, German cabaret, and tarted-up glam rock for good measure." -Frank Deserto, Post-Punk[dot]com "Take one part post-punk, add a few tablespoons of synthesizers, a sprinkle of progressive goth, a pinch of glam, a hell of a lot of reverb, and you have Gender, the debut album of Athens-based Entertainment. The album is impossible to pigeonhole into one genre. It falls into a liminal space somewhere between indie dance rock and Morrissey on heroin." -Carrie Dagenhard, Athens Exchange MISFORTUNE500
Lit Lounge's seedy underground cavern has several first-rate memories attached to it (and certainly several dreadful ones), but I was relieved to tack another high quality experience to the list last night as Athens, GA act Misfortune500 took the stage to an eager East Village crowd. The band, an anthemic yet groove focused take on post-punk, are touring these United States in support of their debut LP, Before This Winter Ends. Their thirty-five minute set was captivating and the crowd was receptive to the rhythmically laced originals, which not only made me shake a bit of a tail feather, but the band's knack for a soaring chorus added a welcome amount of epic drive to the mix; a rare treat for such an dance-oriented aesthetic. Their set was laced with tracks featured on their debut, some of which slashed and bounced chaotically, while others ebbed and flowed with calculated grace. Their closest touchstone, defunct UK act The Chameleons (one of this blogger's personal favorites), was also given two cover treatments, lovingly nestled into the band's oeuvre. The band didn't miss a beat as they launched into 'Don't Fall' and 'Paper Tigers' as if they owned them entirely... Be sure to keep your eyes peeled and catch them first chance you get.
(By Frank Deserto, Limewire, 05/07/08)
|
       |
