Türkçe'de "Karanlık Dalga" Nasıl Denir?

Or, how do you say "Dark Wave" in Turkish?

Katarsis by She Past Away was Lady K's pick when I asked for suggestions to spend the Bandcamp gift voucher that she bought for my birthday last month. 

According to their bio, "She Past Away is dark-wave with a reworked 80’s sound. Signature guitar sound of the post-punk era, combined with minimalist poetry in Turkish. Often an outburst of sentimental anxiety through the nihilistic mind-frame, it is personal. Yet it is broad, a wondering mind brave enough to question taboo and existence.

She Past Away is driving, it is mesmerizing. It is a haunt."

Lady K's recommended song was 2015 single Katarsis, a confident breeze (or should that be chill wind?) through Goth Pop country, the most obvious influence being Clan Of Xymox, with a suitably retro video with in-built VHS glitches to match. 

She Past Away is Turkish duo Doruk Öztürkcan and Volkan Caner. In 2020, they celebrated the band's tenth birthday with X, a 22-track remix album including a full-throttle rework of Katarsis by Italian Cold Wave trio Ash Code.

(And no, I don't yet know the difference between Dark Wave and Cold Wave)

Given their significant influence on She Past Away, it should be no surprise that Clan Of Xymox were approached to contribute to X. They deliver not one but two remixes: Sanrı comes courtesy of founder/frontperson Ronny Moorings; Hayaller is overhauled by bandmate Mario Usai. 

 

The most recent release from She Past Away was the single İnziva, which again comes with a moody and meaningful video, this time in magnificent monochrome.

Turkish Goth? Whether Cold or Dark Wave, or both, I'm in!

I Forget About The World, I Forget What I Learned

Dutch Electro Goth Darkwave pioneers Clan Of Xymox's new single and video emerged at the weekend, the perhaps unsurprisingly titled Blood Of Christ. 

 

Whilst everyone has (quite rightly) been getting very excited about the first new album from Robert Smith in nearly two decades, Ronny Moorings has seemingly just been getting on with it, ploughing a deep furrow of synth tinged angst, culminating in Exodus, the 18th - yes, 18th - Clan Of Xymox album.

The first two albums on 4AD in 1985 and 1986 landed at just the right time for me, as I was trying to reconcile my emerging Goth tendencies with a love to groove. I immersed myself deeply in those two long players. 

 

The 12" double A-side single A Day / Stranger became a holy grail, and the feeling of happiness (with a tinge of melancholy, naturally) when I discovered a secondhand copy for under two quid in Replay Records a few years later was immense.

I stuck with Xymox for the Blind Hearts EP in 1987 and the singles from 1989's Twist Of Shadows, though I didn't buy the album. As the decade ended, and Ronny took a more commercial dance direction, incorporating elements of Wild Thing by The Troggs in one single, I had pretty much checked out.

Understandable unaware and unfazed by the withdrawal of my patronage, Xymox continued to release music, readopting the Clan Of prefix in the late 1990s and establishing a new band dynamic around Moorings as the sole founding member.

And so to the present day. I enjoyed listening to Blood Of Christ and the preceding single X-Odus, in the same way that it's lovely to meet up with an old friend after many years and wonder at how little has changed (in a good way) despite the passage of time. 

I'm not sure that I feel sufficiently compelled to check out the full album, but it did prompt me to spend an hour in their company on YouTube, pulling out a selection of music and videos for your entertainment.

The 10-song selection is split very clearly into two periods: 2017-2024 and the 'classic' 1980s period. All of the songs in the former were first-time listens for me and worth a mention also for the long-time collaborations with film maker Zoe Kavanagh.

The 1980s period continues in reverse chronological order with Obsession from Twist Of Shadows, reportedly their most commercially successful album. I was surprised to find an official video for Muscoviet Musquito, as I'm only familiar with the song from it's inclusion on the 4AD compilation Lonely Is An Eyesore. Ronny is rocking some big hair in this one. 

Onto two songs from the classic brace of Clan Of Xymox albums. Medusa nudges the debut as my favourite of the two, the point that Ronny hit that sweet spot of angst, theatrics and some really, really good songs. I was pleased to find a fan-made video for album closer Back Door as well as should-have-been single, Michelle. Having wrestled unsuccessfully with deciphering the lyrics at the time, I've smiled to see that many internet translators have fared no better since!

And so it ends where it started for me. I couldn't find a video for Stranger, but A Day is present and correct in all it's hairsprayed, backcombed, gelled and slicked back glory. Seeing Ronny with original Clan members Anka Wolbert, Pieter Nooten and Frank Weyzig, and hearing the music is a real blast.

Blood Of Christ (2024)

X-Odus (2024)

She (2020)

Loneliness (2017) 

Vixen In Disguise (2017)

Obsession (1989) 

Muscoviet Musquito (1987)

Back Door (1986)

Michelle (1986)

A Day (1985)

You can find Clan Of Xymox's extensive 21st century catalogue on Bandcamp, if you want to thrill (and chill) a friend or loved one with a surprise purchase.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just Walk Don't Talk

A companion of sorts to the Floorshow compilation I posted last summer, it's back to the alternative 1980s for a lucky 13 of 12" and extended versions.

I've stuck with most of the artists from Floorshow, but with different song selections, the majority of which haven't appeared on this blog previously. Again, whilst many of these songs didn't make it onto the decks at the alternative pubs and clubs I bothered as a pan-stick caked and hairpsrayed teen, they would get played to death at home, to my parents' frequent dismay.

I've managed to hold onto some of the original vinyl 12" singles: The Sisters Of Mercy, The Damned (transparent yellow vinyl 10"), Siouxsie & The Banshees, Psychic TV. Others have been replaced with shiny disc. A couple - The March Violets and the Razormaid mix of Vicious Pink - have been 21st century discoveries thanks to the power of the blogosphere. 

 

And yes, that misspelling of Ressurection Joe still bugs me, four decades on.

 

I think I'd need more than pan-stick and hairspray to look halfway decent this days, but the music takes me right back, even if there is a soundtrack of creaking bones and groans running in parallel...!

 

1) Stranger (Album Version By Clan Of Xymox, Ivo & John Fryer): Clan Of Xymox (1985)

2) This Corrosion (12" Version By Jim Steinman): The Sisters Of Mercy (1987)

3) Peppermint Pig (12" Version By Alan Rankine & John Fryer): Cocteau Twins (1983)

4) 506 (Full Length Version): The Leather Nun (1985)

5) Anything (And Yet Another Mix By Lance Phillips): The Damned (1986)

6) Sister Europe (Album Version By Steve Lillywhite): The Psychedelic Furs (1980)

7) Song From The Edge Of The World (Columbus Mix By Mike Thorne): Siouxsie & The Banshees (1987)

8) Walk Into The Sun (Extended): The March Violets (1984)

9) Modesty Plays (Long Version): Sparks (1983)

10) Take Me Now (Razormaid Mix By Joseph Watt): Vicious Pink (1986)

11) Swamp Thing (Full Length Album Version): The Chameleons (1986)

12) Roman P. (Fireball Mix By Mark Freegard): Psychic TV (1986)

13) Ressurection Joe (Long Version By Chris Kimsey): The Cult (1984)

Just Walk Don't Talk (1:20:16) (KF) (Mega)

Floorshow

Mix CD-R, originally compiled November 2004 by Atom Boy for my wife & I, and "kind of dedicated to the mighty Phil Sainsbury and the various clubs where he DJ'd" in Bristol in the 1980s/1990s. By his own admission, some liberties were taken with the tracklisting: the Ofra Haza version of Temple Of Love over the original, for example. I've taken a few more liberties by re-inserting the 12" mix of Psychic TV, which wouldn't fit on the original CD-R, time-wise. I've also replaced the 7" version of Cccan't You See... with the 12" French mix, which (for me) is the definitive version and wasn't originally included as Atom Boy's vinyl was "unlistenable". As a consequence, I've split the compilation into two sides, which would comfortably fit onto a C90 cassette and is more fitting with the period of the music. Image is by Atom Boy, taken from the front cover of the CD-R. Draw the curtains, get some dry ice and low lighting on, down a pint of Snake Bite and forget it's Sunday morning...

Side One

1) A Day (Re-Mixed By Ivo & John Fryer): Clan Of Xymox (1985)

2) Singing Rule Britannia (While The Walls Close In): The Chameleons (1985)

3) The Shadow Of Love (The Ten Inches Of Hell Mix): The Damned (1985)

4) Israel (Single Version): Siouxsie & The Banshees (1980)

5) She Sells Sanctuary (Album Version): The Cult (1985)

6) Live For Today (Extended Version By Todd Rundgren): Lords Of The New Church (1983)

7) Temple Of Love (Touched By The Hand Of Ofra Haza): The Sisters Of Mercy ft. Ofra Haza (1992)

8) Lorelei: Cocteau Twins (1984)

Side Two

1) I Can Smell Your Thoughts (Remix): The Leather Nun (1987)

2) Turn To The Sky (The Spiral Tribe Edition): The March Violets (1995)

3) Heartbeat (Album Version): The Psychedelic Furs (1984)

4) Native Love (Step By Step) (Remixed By Rudy Turner): Divine (1982)

5) Good Vibrations (Kundalini Mix By Phil Harding): Psychic TV (1986)

6) Cccan't You See... (French Extended Mix): Vicious Pink (1984)

7) The Number One Song In Heaven (Long Version By Giorgio Moroder): Sparks (1979)

8) A Day (Re-Mixed By Ivo Watts-Russell & John Fryer) (Reprise): Clan Of Xymox (1985)

 

Side One (44:04)

Side Two (44:16)
 

Zoo Time Is She And You Time

Side 1 of a mixtape cassette titled heartbeatincreasingheartbeat, recorded 25th September 1991. 

 

Back in Bristol after a year working and travelling in Australia, back at college for a second go at 'A' levels having dropped out after 6 months a few years previously, back living with my parents after a period of independence and freedom and back in local record shops, sniffing out new and old vinyl.

1) The Man With The Golden Arm (Full Length Version) (Cover of Elmer Bernstein): Barry Adamson (1988)

2) Strange Days: The Doors (1967)

3) Trip, Stumble & Fall: The Mamas & The Papas (1966)

4) De-Luxe: Lush (1990)

5) Theme II: Clan Of Xymox (1986)

6) Spoil The Child: Fad Gadget ft. Joni Sackett (1983)

7) This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us: Sparks (1974)

8) Thank You For Sending Me An Angel: Talking Heads (1978)

9) The Light Pours Out Of Me ('One Pound Ninety-Nine' Version) (Cover of Magazine): Peter Murphy (1985)

10) The Sleeper: John Cale (1985)

11) The Avenue: O.M.D. (1984)

12) The 'In' Crowd (Cover of Dobie Gray): Bryan Ferry (1974)

13) Wheels Of Fortune: Fad Gadget (1982)

Side One (47:19)

Find Side Two here