The Season Of The Witch... House

A Witch House Primer

Witch House is the strangest musical genre of this or any other year. With willfully obscure acts with hard to pronounce names like oOoOO, ///▲▲▲\\\ , Gr†ll Gr†ll, †‡† and ▲. It's like they've been force fed the dictionary according to Prince and it makes it bloody difficult to find them on google or Last.FM!

Witch House is a convenient catch all for all sorts of dark-hued synth rock with it's roots in dubstep, ambience and trance. The sound is characterised by a dark, nightmarish sound with pitched-down vocals and languid suffocating synths. A sound that some have likened to being trapped in a haunted house and catching a glimpse of a ghost hence the sobriquet Witch House. Some of it sounds more like music beamed in from radio Alien. Maybe it's already splitting into various sub genres and Alien House is just the first! Either way it's dirty finger nails will scratch the itch for lovers of everyone from Throbbing Gristle to Brian Eno, from My Bloody Valentine to Burial.

So this truly is the season of the witch... house.

Go Try

MP3 - White Ring - We Rot
MP3 - "†‡† - >>>>▲<<<<"
These tracks are linked direct from the artists Last.FM sites and are therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright

MATER SUSPIRIA VISION - Theme from Picnic at Hanging Rock by matersuspiriavision
This track is linked direct from the Radar Maker blog and is therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright

Go Visit
White Ring - Myspace : Last.FM
oOoOO - Myspace : Last.FM
Mater Suspiria Vision - Myspace : Last.FM
Raw Moans - Myspace : Last.FM
Modern Witch - Myspace : Last.FM
Young Cream - Last.FM

Go View

White Ring
Roses

oOoOO
No Summr4U



Mater Suspiria Vision
In My No Religion (Zombie Rave Mix)



Modern Witch
Measure Me For Size



Young Cream
Congo Cut Cut



Raw Moans
Aqua Net

Blue Is The Colour

Still Blue Still Turning
From: New York, United States

Still Blue Still Turning is a New York City-based duo located at the point where shoegaze, dreampop, and slow-fi collide; the point where noise and beauty collide, the point where Brian Eno, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine and Sigur Ros collide. Prepare to be astounded.

Go Try

MP3 - Still Blue Still Turning - Can't Breath
MP3 - Still Blue Still Turning - Time Is A Place
These tracks are all linked direct from the Still Blue Still Turning Last.FM site and are therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright.

Go Visit

Still Blue Still Turning - Myspace : Website

Young Knives

Bloody Knives
From: Austin, Texas, United States

The final instalment in the Devil's short series of bands from the Killredrocket Records 'Decadence' compilation. Today's feature band are Bloody Knives, a two piece electropunk duo from Killredrocket Records homebase of Austin who pound your ears with a mix of droning 8 bit industrial, shoegaze and raw grunge. It's kinda like Soundgarden bumping into My Bloody Valentine in a steel factory.

Go Try

MP3 - Bloody Knives - Hands Around My Neck
MP3 - Bloody Knives - Buried
MP3 - Bloody Knives - Nothing Will Fix
These tracks are linked direct from the Bloody Knives Last.FM site and are therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Bloody Knives - Myspace : Last.FM

Go View

Bloody Knives
Nothing Will Fix

Poly Techniques

Polynya (an area of open water surrounded by sea ice) sound like they're auditioning to be the 4AD house band. Orlando, with it's isolated, whispering vocals, guitars ringing with reverb, the basslines wriggling along underneath the song sounds like it's been created from a 4AD flat pack. It's not all epic shoegazing, it's not all updated Cocteau Twins and Lush for the 21st century. No there's more to Polynya than mere 4AD mimickery.

Taking their cue from the source of their band name for Polynya shoegazing is merely the solid sea ice surrounding a more fluid sound. A sound that grabs fragments of their favourite bands, Wire, Can, Boards of Canada, Augustus Pablo and Pere Ubu and moulds them into something new. People in Pictures sounds like The Cranberries being regularly interrupted by My Bloody Valentine. The Devil's favourite track Tarantula is a psych pop echo from the summer of love.

Polynya is a cracker.

Go Try

MP3 - Polynya - People In Pictures
MP3 - Polynya - Orlando
MP3 - Polynya - Tarantula
These tracks are published with the permission of Polynya so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Polynya - Myspace : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Polynya
Sweatshop