Track Listing: No Letters, The Abyss, Eleven, Without Face, Luna Journey, Visions, Between Dreams & Dust.

This CD is the project of Chilean darkwave neoclassicist, Claudia Wall. Though the music may at times betray the novice, since this is her first release, it is lovely and dark, like the woman herself. A little too much of the same thing perhaps, but there is real compositional process going on and the lyrics, when there are lyrics, are not about what you might expect a song to be about... which tends to pique mental interest and provoke emotional response in an interesting way. Considering that she does literally everything herself, this is a promising debut.

For more information, check out the artist’s site or her Myspace Page.

Track Listing: Ofrendas De Luz A Los Muertos, Esqueleto De Chapulin.

Soriah, a sound manipulation artist from Oregon, is a practitioner of koomei, which is also known as “throat singing”, a drone style of playing with vocal harmonics that is decidedly nothing like “song”. It is most traditionally practiced by a group of Turkic people from Tuva, near Mongolia, often in caves or other areas with phenomenal natural acoustics. The Spanish title of the current release translates Offerings of Light To the Dead, and the content does very much in the way of evoking what this might entail, with a little help on analog synth by heavy electronica player, Lana Guerra, of Power Circus.

There is only one other offering besides the 30 minute title track. It is not nearly as long, and involves a Mexican grasshopper that is eaten by natives of Oaxaca as a routine part of their diet.

This amazing material is not for everyone, but it is quite mystical, hypnotic and well worth the effort for those inclined to venture off the beaten path.

For more information, check out the artist’s site or his Myspace Page.

Track Listing: The Only One - Remix 4 by 30 Seconds To Mars, Freakshow - Wolves at the Gate Remix by Jade E Puget (AFI), Sleep When I’m Dead - Remix by Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) & Julien-K, The Perfect Boy - Remix 4 by Patrick Stump/Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy), Exploding Head Syndrome - 4 Singles Remix by 65 Days Of Static.

It’s The Cure... but not The Cure. Some reviewers have denigrated this remix EP of four singles from the new Cure LP as completely unwarranted and unnecessary, but I find them all to be worthwhile. I especially like the 22+ minute collage of all four songs that is the final track, finding it to be a viable artistic effort in its own right. Hypnagogic States may not be The Cure as you are used to hearing them, but it offers some interesting alternate takes on their music.

For more information, check out the band’s site or their Myspace Page.

Track Listing: Staub, Karin, Schwarze Biene (Black Maja), Unkerich, Still Am Tresen, Welk, Von Schnabeln, Orgelblut, Faul, Welten.

This German belle noir group creates instrumental music that sounds for all the world like it is going to be 1950s/early 60s cool jazz, but instead turns out to be incredible, minimalistic condensations of what that music was about... at least on the technical side. The spiritual and emotional tonality is, however, darker and lonelier. It may take the listener a while to warm to the icy chill of these works, but as they play out a mood of unrelenting melancholia takes over. Completely if you let it in. It is like drinking by yourself in a dimly lit, smokey corner of some sad, purple lounge... alone with your ruminations and resigned to the inescapable darkness. The album title fits like a glove.

For more information, check out the band’s site or their Myspace Page.

Track Listing: Eveil des Fées, Assault, La Ronde des Fées, Entre Ciel et Fer, Devenons Demain I, Devenons Demain II, Solitude, Solarisation, La Chambre des Fées, Soleils Noirs pour Lune Blanche, La Mélodie de la Tête, Le Château Enchanté, Le Scarabée Bleu, Soleils Noirs pour Lune Blanche - Tango, Les Eaux Dormantes, Alpha du Centaure.

This French neo-classical quintet is actually quite classical, as compared to what one usually finds with gothic neo-classical. The format may be non-standard by classical definition (3 violins/cello/piano with no viola or bass), but they often sound like modernist, minimalist composers such as Glass or Reich...featuring intense melodic strains over driving, repetitive ostinato figures. At other times they put one in mind of the recent crop of East European masters. Another difference between this group and a formal classical music quintet is that they perform their own material rather than that of sundry composers. They include occasional guest vocalists and other instrumentalists to broaden the canvas. The result is compelling, provocative music that is well beyond merely imitating great classical music of yore.

For more information, check out the band’s site or their Myspace Page or check out their MySpace video link.