{"id":6078,"date":"2017-07-23T19:29:19","date_gmt":"2017-07-23T23:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=6078"},"modified":"2017-08-15T14:10:33","modified_gmt":"2017-08-15T18:10:33","slug":"various-artists-silhouettes-statues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/various-artists-silhouettes-statues\/","title":{"rendered":"Various Artists
Silhouettes & Statues"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Silhouettes<\/a>As I was reminded recently when I saw someone wearing black lipstick and black clothes reading a book called So Sad Today<\/i> on the subway, it\u2019s possible to be too<\/i> goth. (But not if you\u2019re this girl<\/a>.) However, while such signifiers might have become almost cliche due to overuse, as a loosely defined genre of music, goth has remained evergreen, constantly reinventing itself as it\u2019s branched off into new sub-genres and tributaries. Indeed, although formed in the wake of punk, more than a sound or a musical style, goth is an aesthetic. Seemingly very different artists frequently fall under the big black umbrella of goth, their commonality being darkened musical tones and a similarly murky lyrical bent. There may be too many variables to definitively define goth, but you know it when you hear it.<\/p>\n

Cherry Red has taken on the challenge of encapsulating goth in a boxset. Not that they\u2019re the first to do so\u2014Rhino put out a leather corset\u2013wrapped collection in 2006\u2014but it\u2019s nevertheless an ambitious undertaking. A quick glance at the track list for Silhouettes & Statues: A Gothic Revolution 1978\u20131986<\/i> reveals that there are a few big names of the genre missing. Whether that was a conscious decision or a matter of not being able to secure permissions for including such material, it leaves room for more obscure choices, which is, I think, preferable. Anyone with the slightest interest in goth is going to be familiar with Siouxsie and the Banshees, but perhaps not The Rose of Avalanche or And The Trees. Also included on the set are bands like The Associates, Public Image Ltd. and Adam and the Ants, who are not typically thought of as goth, but when placed in this context, show their dark sides. And while the set focuses solely on British bands of the \u201980s, there seems to have been plenty of material to fill up five discs.<\/p>\n

Silhouettes<\/i> begins with Joy Division\u2019s \u201cShadowplay\u201d followed by The Birthday Party\u2019s \u201cRelease the Bats,\u201d and the two songs can be seen as a kind of goth yin and yang. The former is representative of the stoic, icy approach taken by many, while the former channels the kind of unhinged mania that can found throughout goth\u2019s history. Meanwhile \u201cFloorshow,\u201d by goth figureheads The Sisters of Mercy, is representative of the mechanized approach that would spawn yet another offshoot. Meanwhile, All About Eve and The Mission, whose Wayne Hussey was a founding Sisters member, represent a strain inspired by flowerchild mysticism and \u201960s rock.<\/p>\n

Of course, goth central in London in the mid-80s was The Batcave, a club opened by members of Specimen, whose excellent \u201cReturning from a Journey\u201d is included, as is a live version of Tabathas Nightmare\u2019s \u201cHeroin\u201d actually recorded at the club. Anorexic Dread (what a name!), who played the club several times, contribute \u201cTracey\u2019s Burning,\u201d which recalls Bauhaus at their most crazed, and batcavers Zero Le Creche are also represented with \u201cLast Year\u2019s Wife,\u201d which seemingly antithetical to the goth aesthetic, is one of the set\u2019s most uplifting cuts. Meanwhile Alien Sex Fiend, perhaps the Batcave\u2019s most notorious alumni, contribute \u201cDead and Reburied,\u201d a frenzied, clanking track typical of the Fiend\u2019s output.<\/p>\n

Instead of the more obvious choice of \u201cBela Lugosi\u2019s Dead,\u201d goth founding fathers Bauhaus are represented with \u201cStigmata Martyr,\u201d but there are greater highlights, including Love and Rockets\u2019 \u201cSeventh Dream of Teenage Heaven,\u201d although maybe \u201cHaunted\u201d would have been more apropos. Elsewhere, Section 25\u2019s Martin Hannett\u2013produced \u201cCharnel Ground\u201d is a real ear-catcher, while The Chameleons\u2019 \u201cIn Shreds\u201d also sticks out. Another act not typically thought of as goth, the Cocteau Twins\u2019 \u201cIn Our Angelhood\u201d fits in here aesthetically, while also standing out as utterly unique.<\/p>\n

Of course with this much material, some songs pass by without notice, but nothing feels underwhelming. Indeed, at 83 tracks, Silhouettes<\/i> is remarkably cohesive, even while covering all of goth\u2019s disparate bases. And with liner notes detailing each track\u2014many written by the artists themselves\u2014it\u2019s also highly informative. Whether you wear black on the outside or just on the inside, there\u2019s a lot to love here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I was reminded recently when I saw someone wearing black lipstick and black clothes reading a book called So Sad Today<\/i> on the subway, it\u2019s possible to be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":6081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[387,1444],"class_list":["post-6078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-past-perfect","tag-cherry-red-records","tag-past-perfect"],"yoast_head":"\nVarious Artists Silhouettes & Statues - 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