A Few Goth Notes
The L.A. Times posted a report on Sunday about the wedding of Scarling members Jessicka Fodera and Christian Hejnal. According to the paper is was the goth event of the season:
“A pink-haired drag queen scattered rose petals before the bride as she glided toward the altar, looking every inch the goth princess — vampy eyes, raven bouffant, black lace gown and black Dutch rose nosegay. She swooshed with funereal drama past her guests … Waiting at the altar was her dapper, inky-haired groom. The DJ, lowbrow artist Tim Biskup, faded out the music — a dirge by Sigur Rós — and the wedding officiant cleared his throat. He was wearing, naturally, a giant Easter Bunny head.”
In attendance were a bevy of darkly-inclined superstars, including burlesque star Dita Von Teese, artist Mark Ryden, Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins, sculptor Elizabeth McGrath, “Lenore” artist Roman Dirge, and author Clint Catalyst. The couple has taken on the new surname of “Addams” in honor of the ghoulish cartoon family created by Chas Addams. Scarling are currently in the process of recording a new album, slated for a mid-2008 release.
Eminent journalist and goth historian Mick Mercer has posted his top 30 favorite goth singles.
“8. XMAL DEUTSCHLAND Schwarz Welt (1981 7-inch - Zick Zack ZZ31)
We are not alone - that’s what we got from this. In America Christian Death were top dogs, and on the continent Xmal did the girl power thing with a single so noisy it puts virtually every record before or since to absolute shame. Later they went more for vocal drone, with keyboard wash and stony, stormy rhythms, but this record is just vicious. I hear they’re reforming, which is exciting news. “
The list was supposed to appear in this month’s issue of Record Collector Magazine, but was cut due to size constraints.
Since you can’t have two articles concerning all things goth without someone declaring the scene dead, I present an article from the Marquette Tribune (a college paper in Milwaukee), in which a bitter ex-scenester is interviewed concerning the allegedly ex-subculture.
“Halloween used to be the biggest day of the year on the goths’ calendars. But today, the goth scene identified by its fashion, music and attitude is deader now than it ever was, according to one local former goth enthusiast. “It’s been dead for a while,” said Jeff Murrell, a 44-year-old attorney and 1995 Marquette Law graduate who said he quit the scene four years ago. “I just never realized it when it did die.” … Murrell said goth is not a subculture. And it only existed between the early 1980s and late 1990s, he said.”
The paper also interviews Gothsicles member Brain Graupner, who has a somewhat more easygoing attitude towards the speculated end of all things gothy.
“It’s pretty easy to say anything is dead … It’s definitely different, but I’m not going to say it’s dead.”
Perhaps rumors of its demise are greatly exaggerated.
