Memory keeper. Mostly music and movies, plus some series and video games. Obscure darkness meets pop culture glow.
I wrote previously about Adam Tristar after I first saw him live. I’ve been going back to his music regularly and since then I’ve realized that his first record is probably my favorite, so this is a nod to that. Darkwave electronic goth stuff.
Classic goth rock. Besides the gloom and darkwave, some songs have a great hook, almost having a glam feel to them (like Son of Serpent and The Last Vampire).
It’s the breakbeat I love and remember done now, with some big beat, drum and bass, and video game sound aesthetics. This is such a fun album from the music through the concept to the cover art.
Another amazing goth record. Fantastically captured mood, classic sound, mix of post-punk and synths, with an occasional futurepop flair.
Classic post-punk goth sound and vibes.
Cute and calm acoustic album. Kinda jazz, very light rock, pop.
This album catapulted to the top of my listening charts of this year, it just has a ridiculously strong hook. It definitely helps that sun coming out more, trees are bursting in leaves, and this is essentially a soundtrack to summer. Kung Fu and Lococo are hymns for a sunny day on a meadow by a lake while having food on the grill and tossing frisbee.
Indie pop is a great genre for this record: it is absolutely pop with a world music spin, but it’s quite a mile from mainstream radio pop. Some songs have this strong cuteness factor because of the singer’s voice, like how The Asteroids Galaxy Tour took us by storm in 2009 with their debut. It also brings me back to the Radiocafé era of Hungary.
It’s dark like gothic but not black metal or post-punk goth, it’s well-crafted musically but not over the top progressive metal, it’s slow in tempo but not at all doom or sludge. I was a bit confused when they listed things like jazz and dark ambient in their influences, and then, the track The Dress goes into a full-on jazz depart before jumping into a cinematic transition and ending up with a fantastic solo and then the crystal clear vocals arrive… They really have it all. Still, it’s not a mish-mash of things but a perfect amalgamation and genre-bending.
Overall, Messa is just one of those most eclectic dark rock bands that put the sweetest sorrow in my throat. And The Spin is a beautiful album, gives me shivers over and over again. I can easily listen to this on repeat.
Update: I’ve just listened to the previous albums of Messa and now it’s clear why they mention stuff like drone, dark ambient, doom, or stoner as references for their music. There are actual full tracks with these aesthetics on earlier records. However, I think The Spin is a lot more evolved and cleaner version of their sound. It’s not so much all these styles living side-by-side anymore but having a great blend of these sources into one coherent voice.
Easy listening house, bleep techno, and electroclash. Casual electronic lounging and catwalk music.
It was a rather unique and nice journey. Coming out of the cinema we had somewhat different ideas about the setting, but that’s exactly what makes this feel fresh: it’s up for interpretations and metaphors, and it’s interesting to discuss the different ideas.