John Robb of The Membranes releases “The Art Of Darkness : The History Of Goth” book.
Author/Music Scribe/TV Presenter/Environmental Activist and Bass Player for perennial post-punk survivors The Membranes, John Robb is a man who cannot sit still. When he’s not touring with his band (they recently toured in Europe with The Stranglers, The Chameleons and Fields Of The Nephilim), he’s presenting, moderating or writing for his popular UK music site Louder Than War. John has previously written the best-selling books “Punk Rock : An Oral History” and “The North Will Rise Again : Manchester Music City 1976-1996”. His latest opus is the 650-page “The Art Of Darkness : The History of Goth”, an in-depth account that he feels presents the first major and comprehensive overview of Goth music and culture and its lasting legacy.
Starting with a night out in a Goth club, it then takes us on a deep-dive into the wider culture, exploring the social conditions that created ‘Goth’ in the post-punk period. It examines the fall of Rome, Lord Byron and the romantic poets, European folk tales, Gothic architecture and painters, the occult to modern-day Instagram influencers.
The book is built mainly around the 80s post-punk Goth period featuring interviews with Andrew Eldritch, Killing Joke, Bauhaus, The Cult, The Banshees, The Damned, Einstürzende Neubauten, Johnny Marr, Trent Reznor, Adam Ant, Laibach, The Cure, Nick Cave and many others. …it looks at the music, style and the political and social conditions that spawned the culture and the great music, fashions and attitudes - clubs that defined it, and is also a first-hand account of being there at some of the legendary gigs and clubs that made the scene happen...
JOHN ROBB
“The Art Of Darkness : The History Of Goth”
Louder Than War Books
550 Pages + Photographs by Mick Mercer
Release Date: March 24, 2023
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Today 17 years ago, Nine Inch Nails released ‘Every Day Is Exactly the Same’ as their third single taken from the album With Teeth. It became NIN 21st official release thus baring the Halo 21 catalogue number.
The radio single reached #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock singles chart in the Modern Rock Tracks category and #12 in the Mainstream Rock Tracks category. The song also reached number one on the Canadian Singles Chart, and received a nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 49th annual Grammy Awards. Though a planned music video was scrapped in the post-production stage, "Every Day Is Exactly the Same" still topped Billboard's 2006 year-end Hot Dance Singles Sales chart, it has so far spent 94 weeks on the chart.
Every Day is Exactly the Same (US CD EP tracklist)
1 "Every Day Is Exactly the Same" – 4:57
2 "The Hand That Feeds" (DFA Mix) – 9:03
3 "The Hand That Feeds" (Photek Straight Mix) – 7:47
4 "Only" (El-P Mix) – 4:22
5 "Only" (Richard X Mix) – 7:25
6 "Every Day Is Exactly the Same" (Sam Fog vs. Carlos D Mix) – 5:03
Every Day is Exactly the Same (Lyrics)
I believe I can see the future
'Cause I repeat the same routine
I think I used to have a purpose
But then again, that might have been a dream
I think I used to have a voice
Now I never make a sound
I just do what I've been told
I really don't want them to come around, oh no
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same
I can feel their eyes are watching
In case I lose myself again
Sometimes I think I'm happy here
(Sometimes)
Sometimes, yet I still pretend
I can't remember how this got started
Oh, but I can tell you exactly how it will end
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same
I'll write it on a little piece of paper
I'm hoping, someday, you might find
Well I'll hide it behind something
They won't look behind
I am still inside her
A little bit comes bleeding through
I wish this could've been any other way
But I just don't know, I don't know what else I can do
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same (every day is the same)
Dark Electronic Band, Divine Shade Creates Crowdfunding Campaign For EP Trilogy!
2022 was a great new start for Divine Shade. Traveling in Europe and back from a major UK tour supporting Gary Numan was the pinnacle of a successful year! Divine Shade would like to continue to ride on these good vibes.
The Project:
An album divided into three parts: Fragments (Volume 1,2 and 3) - a trilogy of Eps with original songs, several surprise guests and friends. Each EP contains four songs, four remixes and will have one accompanying music video.
Multiple contribution levels & perks!
Your name in the EP credits, digital edition of the EP, physical CDs, and bundles that include all of these plus shirts, stickers and posters in addition to original artwork.
"We need you to help us finance the project. Thank you, everyone!" - Divine Shade
Inspired by the Greek Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, The Funeral March has released five new songs during the season of transition between death and rebirth. These new tracks whisper of dreams, murmur of despair, cry out in madness, and reflect on hope and loss.
The new EP, Persephone calls upon the influence of The Cure and Siouxie & The Banshees, with blueprints drafted by Neil Gaiman's 'The Sandman'. It unleashes the urge to throw inhibitions aside under the restless moon.
The time for warnings of apocalyptic demise from The Funeral March has passed. Their new release instead contemplates our mental and emotional undoing before that day comes…
Persephone is available NOW in streaming, digital download, and compact disc formats. The EP was mixed and mastered by Adam Stilson (Panic Priest, Feral Ghosts, Pixel Grip, Wingtips, Ritual Howls, and New Canyons) with cover art by Greg Rolfes (eleven12 Design).
On this day, 21 years ago, Frank Tovey / Fad Gadget died at the age of 45.
Today it’s been already 21 years since Frank Tovey, also known as Fad Gadget, passed away at the age of 45 (°8 September 1956 – † 3 April 2002). He was a pioneer of both (electronic) New-wave and Industrial music. As no other, and we even dare to say upon today, he succeeded in fusing together darkish electro-pop with industrial and noisy experiments.
His sarcastic and darkly humorous view on life reflected his lyrics that were mostly filled with biting social commentary towards subjects such as machinery, industrialization, consumerism, human sexuality, mass media, religion, domestic violence and dehumanization.
In 1978 Frank Tovey sent a demo tape of Back to Nature to Daniel Miller, who had just released his own, and thus first Mute label single, as The Normal.
Tovey signed as Fad Gadget to Daniel Miller's Mute Records made him the first artist to sign to Mute and ”Back to Nature" the second release on Mute Records. The single was recorded on a 8-track recorder and released in 1979. After this successful single release, the follow-up single Ricky’s Hand record was recorded and released. Tovey also began recording a full album, his iconic debut album Fireside Favorites which was released by Mute in November 1980.
In 1981 Tovey released another single “Make Room", featuring the "Lady Shave" on the b-side, the latter went on to become one of his most known and played tracks.
For Tovey the ideas and concepts behind his live performances were just as important as his music. His live appearances quickly became known for his confrontational stage antics.
In total Frank Tovey recorded four albums under the moniker Fad Gadget, four as Frank Tovey and two as Frank Tovey & The Pyros.
After the release and tour from Frank Tovey & The Pyros album Worried Men In Second-Hand Suits (1992) he withdrew from the music scene for almost a decade.
In 2001 he started performing again as Fad Gadget supporting label mates Depeche Mode on their world tour. Fad Gadet was invited by Depeche Mode themselves as they once supported Fad Gadget on tour in 1980.
On April 3rd 2002, only a few days after he had returned home from a Fad Gadget come-back tour through Europe, Frank Tovey died due to a heart failure. Apparently he was aware of the risks of a heart failure that were already diagnosed when he was a chid. This could explain why he called one of the track on his Fireside Favorite debut album the Arch Of The Aorta.
Album Discography
As Fad Gadget
• Fireside Favourites (1980)
• Incontinent (1981)
• Under the Flag (1982)
• Gag (1984)
• The Best of Fad Gadget (2001)
As Frank Tovey
• Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing (1984) (with Boyd Rice)
• Snakes and Ladders (1986)
• The Fad Gadget Singles (1986)
• Civilian (1988)
• Tyranny & the Hired Hand (1989)
• Grand Union (1991)
• Worried Men in Second Hand Suits (1992)
• Fad Gadget by Frank Tovey (2006)
