A Darker Shade of Pagan: Podcast for 08/24/08
New this week: Brand new music from Blackmore’s Night.
Other notes: This week sees the first official ADSOP cd giveaway. Listen to the podcast to learn how to win a free copy of Blackmore’s Night’s new album “Secret Voyage”. In other news, if you use Facebook, why not become a “fan” of A Darker Shade of Pagan there.
In the future: Even more stuff (and by “stuff”, I mean great new music).
A Darker Shade of Pagan: Podcast for 08/17/08
New this week: Brand new music from Fern Knight, Bat For Lashes (from the upcoming Cure tribute “Perfect As Cats”), Novemthree, and Bon Iver !
Other notes: This week I fell in love with a Test Dept. / Brith Gof collaboration called “Gododdin”, and played a track from it that I found on the Internet. Sadly the album seems to be out of print. I would love to get my hands on a copy (CD or digitial), so drop me a line if you have any leads that don’t cost me an arm and a leg (Got it! Expect to hear more from this album in the future.). In other news, if you use Facebook, why not become a “fan” of A Darker Shade of Pagan there.
In the future: You can expect wonderful things (and new music), including some possible ADSOP CD giveaways!
A Darker Shade of Pagan: Podcast for 08/10/08
New this week: Brand new music from Falling You, and Mercury-prize nominated folk act Rachel Unthank and the Winterset.
Other notes: I was pretty pleased with the “flow” of music this week. I also ended up playing just about every band mentioned in my recent collection of capsule reviews. In other news, if you use Facebook, why not become a “fan” of A Darker Shade of Pagan there.
In the future: Expect some older stuff from Sharron Kraus (and friends) that will interest my explicitly Pagan listeners. Plus, I may play a preview track from an excellent-looking Cure tribute coming out from Manimal Vinyl.
A Darker Shade of Pagan: Podcast for 08/03/08
New this week: Brand new music from Pamela Wyn Shannon, Accolade, and Revue Noir!
Other notes: The theme this week was “autumnal” in honor of Lughnasadh. Though it may not feel like autumn yet, especially here in the Midwest, the wheel is slowly turning and before long well be raking lawns, harvesting apples, and preparing for the coming Winter. In other news, if you use Facebook, why not become a “fan” of A Darker Shade of Pagan there.
In the future: I completely forgot to play some Rachel Unthank and the Winterset, so expect that next week! You may also hear some experimental wonder-working from Madison’s Kinit Her.
A Darker Shade of Pagan: Podcast for 07/27/08
New this week: Nothing “brand new”, but I did play cuts from new releases by Qntal and Lunascape.
Other notes: This week was a special tribute to Dancing Ferret/Noir records, who are closing up shop in November. All the songs, except the closer, were from DF/Noir releases.
In the future: Expect to hear music from Mercury-shortlisted artists Rachel Unthank and the Winterset.
A Darker Shade of Pagan: Podcast for 07/20/08
New this week: Brand new stuff from Incus, Silver Summit, Rusalnaia, and Sharron Kraus!
Other notes: This week was a special tribute to the late, lamented, Woven Wheat Whispers distributor/label. As such the majority of the tracks were from artists who either sold their music through WWW, or appeared on one of their compilations.
In the future: I will be doing a tribute to Dancing Ferret/Noir records next week. The popular goth/darkwave label will be closing up shop come November. They have exposed American artists to a variety of great Pagan-friendly European acts.
This past few weeks has seen announcements from two Pagan-friendly music labels/distributors that they are closing up shop. First, at the end of June, the online folk music resource Woven Wheat Whispers called it quits.
“We didn’t have to close WWW, it was paying it’s way and no money was lost. It was just a decision about the future taken calmly at a point where we had time to think… It was meant to be fun and would have turned into slog at some point in the near future … We could have continued and would have done alright, but with Myspace starting to sell downloads, Amazon coming in and iTunes level of market dominance, there was little point. Even CDBaby now sell downloads alongside the CD. Exiting in a positive way seemed the best thing to do at the right time. WWW didn’t collapse, we have all the money needed. It was a decision taken about how far to push what was a small home operation delivered in my spare time.”
I mentioned Woven Wheat Whispers on this blog last year when they released (with Cold Spring Records) the amazing “John Barleycorn Reborn” compilation. Woven Wheat Whispers introduced me to some great artists, including The Owl Service, Cunnan, Arrowwood, Novemthree, Sharron Kraus, and The Horses of The Gods. It at times felt like the label/service was especially created for fans of The Wicker Man soundtrack (a high compliment in my book). Needless to say, WWW artists got, and continue to get, at lot of airplay on my podcast/streaming radio show.
Meanwhile, just yesterday, Dancing Ferret/Noir Records founder Patrick Rodgers announced that his popular goth/darkwave label would be closing down in November.
“After November, Dancing Ferret Discs (and Noir Records) will stop releasing new material. Of course this does NOT mean that our wonderful artists are hanging up their hats, nor that their albums will disappear. It also does NOT mean that anything will happen to Nocturne, Dracula’s Ball, Digital Ferret or IsoTank. It simply means that in the future, new albums by the DFD bands that you love will be released by other labels (or in some cases, by the artists themselves).”
DFD/Noir, aside from representing popular darkwave acts like The Cruxshadows, also introduced America to great European neo-medieval, ethereal, Pagan-folk, and darkwave bands like Corvus Corax, Irfan, The Dreamside, Faun, and Omnia.
Both of these labels/services have been instrumental in helping to expand the idea of a “Pagan music” beyond the New Age mediocrities and sub-par folk that many assumed was the norm. It showed that there were new generations of musicians across America, the UK, and Europe, that were making challenging and exciting music that dealt with themes near and dear to the Pagan soul. To say that the exit of Woven Wheat Whispers and Dancing Ferret/Noir leaves a hole is an understatement. So I raise my glass in toast to both of them, they have enriched us more than most will ever know.
You can expect tributes to both Woven Wheat Whispers and Dancing Ferret/Noir in upcoming episodes of my A Darker Shade of Pagan podcast.
A Darker Shade of Pagan: Podcast for 07/13/08
New this week: Lux Interna’s “A Lantern Carried in Blood and Skin” and Tearwave’s “Different Shade of Beauty”. Also, still relatively fresh from last week is “Musique du Crépuscule” by the French band Les Fragments de la Nuit.
Other Notes: I played two cover-songs this week. Tearwave’s rendition of “Under the Milky Way”, a song by The Church, and Unto Ashes’ version of “Ostia (The Death of Pasolini)” by Coil. The song “The Hunter/Cernunnos” is by classic Pagan rock band The Moors, their first and only album is available for purchase once more! Pick it up while you have the chance!
In the Future: I’m expecting a brand new album by popular Pagan-festival act Incus any time now, so expect to be hearing more about that soon.
Alison Goldfrapp’s new album “Seventh Tree” (out February 25th) leaves aside the electro-glam trappings for a foray into “weird” folk and psychedelic sounds. Goldfrapp recently told an interviewer that the new album was inspired by “paganism”.
“Describing the material as psychedelic, she explained: ‘We’ve been inspired by this idea of paganism and the surreal themes in traditional English children’s books.’”
You can see this new Pagan-inspired esthetic in the video for the first single from “Seventh Tree”: “A&E”, which features dancing figures made of leaves and greenery, with Alison Goldfrapp as a goddess-like figure of worship in flowing white.
I’m very much looking forward to hearing (and seeing) more of this. You can expect tracks from “Seventh Tree” to pop up on “A Darker Shade of Pagan” in the near-future.
In other Pagan-inspired news, today is the start of Pantheacon, the largest indoor Pagan-oriented convention on the west coast (just in time to celebrate Lupercalia). If you are attending, be sure to stop by Anne Hill’s Serpentine Music booth where you’ll find some great A Darker Shade of Pagan-approved merchandise and swag. Including copies of Monica Richard’s masterful “InfraWarrior” CD, and a chance to pre-order a physical copy of the amazing “John Barleycorn Reborn” compilation. Plus, if you give the “secret blog-reader handshake” Anne may show you my list of music recommendations!
My weekly podcast “A Darker Shade of Pagan” has just been posted. This week featuring brand new tracks from Portishead, Artesia, and The Horses of the Gods. Enjoy!
[direct download]
[subscribe via iTunes]
[podcast feed]
Playlist:
Daemonia Nymphe - Nocturnal Hekate, Hagalaz’ Runedance - Wake Skadi, Unto Ashes - Banishment Spell, Isobel Campbell - Willow’s Song, Magnet - Gently Johnny, The Horses of the Gods - John Barleycorn, The Valerie Project - Death and Rebirth, Fern Knight - Awake, Angel Snake, Novemthree - Scythe to the Grass (Reworked), The Moon and The Nightspirit - Holdtanc, Mediaeval Baebes - SummerIsle, Inkubus Sukkubus - Belladonna and Aconite, Portishead - Wicca (live), Artesia - Invitation
You can also listen to this show on the Pagan Radio Network!
My weekly podcast “A Darker Shade of Pagan” has just been posted. This week featuring brand new tracks from Fern Knight, Flash Lights, and Ex-Reverie. Enjoy!
[direct download]
[subscribe via iTunes]
[podcast feed]
Playlist:
Khvarena - Khvarena, Flash Lights - Untitled 2, Rhea’s Obsession - Mahakala, Fern Knight - Silver Fox, Arrowwood - Bells in An Old Forest, Ex Reverie - Clouds or Smoke, The Machine in the Garden - Otherworld, Monica Richards - Sedna, Irfan - Fei
You can also listen to this show on the Pagan Radio Network!
My weekly podcast “A Darker Shade of Pagan” has just been posted. This week featuring brand new tracks from Die Form, Spires That In The Sunset Rise, and Hello, Blue Roses. Enjoy!
[direct download]
[subscribe via iTunes]
[podcast feed]
Playlist:
Unto Ashes - One World, One Sky, The Moors - Dea Noctu, Die Form - BWV 147-5, Faith and The Muse - Mesmerism, Artesia - Le Refuge, Poets to Their Beloved - Ecstatic Dance, Spires That In the Sunset Rise - Sort Sands, Sigur Ros - Salka, Hello, Blue Roses - Shadow Falls, The Valerie Project - Introduction, Corvus Corax - Filii Neidhardi
You can also listen to this show on the Pagan Radio Network!
My weekly podcast “A Darker Shade of Pagan” has just been posted. This week featuring brand new tracks from Mariee Sioux, Meg Baird, and Artesia. Enjoy!
[direct download]
[subscribe via iTunes]
[podcast feed]
Playlist:
Daemonia Nymphe - Daemonos, The Machine in the Garden - On the Wire, The Craft - Dance of Kali, Artesia - L’Appel Des Esprits, Novemthree - Scyth to the Grass (reworked), Sturmpercht - Chor der Toten, Irfan - Hagia Sophia, Mariee Sioux - Two Tongues At One Time, The Valerie Project - Tree of Life, Meg Baird - Maiden in the Moor Lay, Hexperos - The Magnificence of the Night, Akron/Family - Don’t Be Afraid, You’re Already Dead, Magnet - Lullaby, Jani Hellen - Last Sunbeams in a Darkening Hall, Katie Dill - The Body’s Only Rental
You can also listen to this show on the Pagan Radio Network!
[This is a rough-draft excerpt from my forthcoming book concerning the history of modern Pagan and occult music. All work is copyright 2007 - 2008 Jason Pitzl-Waters, and is posted under a Creative Commons License.]
“In the beginning we were berated for being gothic two years too late, today we are applauded for being at the vanguard of World Music. Whoever you believe we have always endeavoured to remain true to our convictions, in the belief that our music would eventually find its audience on its own merits and not by way of slavishly pandering to the whims of an industry that continually lacks imagination and is subservient to formula and greed.” - Brendan Perry, Marrakesh, 1996
Perhaps one of the most important bands to discuss within this context is the band Dead Can Dance. The band, formed in 1981 by Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard, would evolve from a solidly goth/darkwave beginning to incorporate world music, ancient musics from the medieval and Renaissance periods, and stunning vocal work from both members. During their existence the band has influenced several bands, spawned tribute records, and has become a touchstone for music lovers from a variety of scenes, backgrounds, and faiths. While neither member has expressed any allegiance to modern Paganism (Lisa Gerrard from most accounts follows a sort of mystical Christianity, and Brendan Perry has never clearly stated a preference though he seems quite sympathetic to indigenous religion and classical philosophy), the band has been widely adopted as a “pagan band” and several bands influenced by DCD are forthright in their sympathies for pre/post-Christian religion.
This adoption as a “Pagan band” isn’t too hard to imagine. Several songs in the bands history invoke ancient paganism (”Persephone (The Gathering of Flowers)”, “Summoning of the Muse”, “Song of the Sibyl”), the band has incorporated lyrics and themes from indigenous religions, and Lisa Gerrard’s unique form of singing (a type of language-less glossolalia) invites an emotional interpretation by the listener. This connection has grown only stronger as Pagan bands who cite DCD as an influence have emerged over the past fifteen years. These openly Pagan bands, along with a host of artists directly influenced by Dead Can Dance, formed a sort of spiritual music within the goth/darkwave subculture (which would in turn spill into the modern Pagan subculture).
“When someone says there is soul in the work, it means that through the music they have allowed themselves to unlock doors within their own unconscious, that through their confidence they have allowed themselves to surrender, so that they can look inside.” - Lisa Gerrard, Inside the Music
Most of the bands influenced by DCD would incorporate strong female vocals (who often incorporated elements of Gerrard’s unique singing style), world music or folk elements, and electronic or guitar-based effects to provide a modern edge to the music. Creating a sort of template (with different bands placing different emphasis’s on the core elements) for bands wishing to join into this new stylistic thread (which some people call “ethno-gothic”) within a nebulously larger “dark” subculture. Dead Can Dance and the bands that would emerge in their wake would garners an audience much wider than its humble goth roots. Fans could be found in world music circles, New Age enclaves, the chill-out rooms of dance clubs blasting electronic music, and in Hollywood where Gerrard’s siren-like singing has become a popular addition to blockbuster films.
There are several openly Pagan and occult-oriented bands who have been influenced by Dead Can Dance and adhere to the ethno-gothic formula, in fact so many have appeared since the 1990s that some have (wrongfully) assumed that most Pagan music is automatically “goth” (and vice-versa). This misapprehension evolved partially from the fact that many younger Pagans, Witches, and occultists preferred the more youth-oriented environments associated with these bands. In fact a sort of “dark” Pagan underground has sprung up in the wider modern Paganism community that rejects what they see as an increasingly shallow and one-sided religious culture that often doesn’t acknowledge the more unpleasant aspects of nature or the world around them.
[This is a rough-draft excerpt from my forthcoming book concerning the history of modern Pagan and occult music. All work is copyright 2007 - 2008 Jason Pitzl-Waters, and is posted under a Creative Commons License.]
“To understand why we chose the name, think of the transformation of inanimacy to animacy..Think of the processes concerning life from death and death into live. So many people missed the inherent symbolism, and assumed that we must be “morbid gothic types,” a mistake we deplored and deplore…” - Brendan Perry of the band Dead Can Dance, 1984
While the late seventies and early eighties spawned an predominantly insular Pagan musical scene centered around festivals and conventions, that wasn’t the only expression of a modern Pagan or occult music to emerge. Starting in the late seventies several alternative and underground musical subcultures became havens for those who adhered to outsider views of religion and philosophy. Within these permissive (and often rebellious) scenes emerged artists who injected lyrical themes relating to their adherence to outsider faiths and practices into their musical expression. This sometimes resulted in the creation of stylistically unique musical threads within the sub-genre that would inspire future artists and musicians. The best example of this trend can perhaps be found in goth, a unique musical subculture that emerged during the post-punk era in Britain.
Goth presented a romantic, decadent, and inward-looking alternative to the outward anger and nihilism of the UK punk-rock explosion of the late seventies. Byronic excesses and moods largely replaced political posturing (with some notable exceptions), and black was the color of choice. While the goth subculture often outwardly presented Catholic Christian imagery there has never been an expectation of belief in any religious system, and tolerance has been the rule within the culture. Due to this tolerance, many modern Pagans and occult practitioners found themselves a comfortable sanctuary within the goth subculture from a mainstream that often didn’t welcome or understand them. Today, according to some recent polling, up to 33% of self-identified goths hold allegiance to some form of Pagan belief system, by far the largest theistic grouping of the bunch. The rest are a scattered assortment of people who practice “their own” religion, or are agnostic/atheist with a few scattered Christian/Catholics.
It isn’t surprising given these developments that music would be created that would appeal to modern Pagans and occult practitioners, but by the mid-nineties it became prevalent enough that some would identify a separate “pagan goth” sub-genre within the larger goth musical world. Today a wide variety of goth and darkwave (a related and overlapping musical genre) bands identify themselves in some manner with modern Paganism or the theories of occultists like Aleister Crowley. Goth has, for many, become a musical alternative for modern Pagans dissatisfied with the musical offerings found within actual Pagan or occult communities. A way for a younger generation of modern Pagans and occultists to find their own cultural identity in religious communities that are often still dominated by their parents (or grandparents) generation.
While the goth subculture of today is remarkably friendly to Pagan and occult ideas, it was a slow process from its birth in the late seventies. Rebellion against religiously-based oppression and playful displays of blasphemy were far more common, a romantic (and somewhat nihilistic) decadence permeated much of the early scene. But even then certain themes and subject matters would start to pop up within goth (and in some of the darker post-punk bands). The band Bauhaus, famous for the goth anthem “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”, would plunge into mythical themes with songs like “Hollow Hills” (a song dealing with faerie mounds in Ireland, later covered by the Pagan-friendly band Faith and the Muse) and “A God in An Alcove” (a meditation on the forgotten bust of a pagan god), meanwhile the post-punk outfit Killing Joke (which enjoyed a large goth following) became quite interested in the works of the notorious occultist Aleister Crowley which culminated in several members moving to Iceland in order to avoid the Apocalypse (the Apocalypse never occurred, but some of them did collaborate with the influential Icelandic new-wave band Theyr, who were deeply interested in occult and pre-Christian themes). But while these early manifestations were rare (and in the case of Bauhaus, hardly a sign of any serious allegiance to pre-Christian belief) it did point to a fertile ground for later expansion and growth, that by the mid-eighties would start to develop into a noticeable disposition towards occult practices and modern Paganism.
To be continued…
