Ryan Bourne – Black Hole
Genre: Gothic / Dark Wave
Pop culture thrills audiences with promises that it often doesn’t live up to. Pop culture needs to give the appearance of otherworldliness. The most popular groups are the ones that make it seem like they’re present at a party to which you can only dream of being invited.
Or, just as well, pop culture vultures need to show that they’re in a place much worse than where you’ll ever end up. Both of these approaches earn the public’s respect or sympathy. Both pitch the artist as a rebel against conformism.
Ryan Bourne has chosen the first approach on Black Hole. This is the sound of urban bohemia where people wear their sunglasses at night and leather jackets are passed at the entrance. Ryan Bourne has created a futuristic Velvet Underground-influenced sound that should make kids in small towns everywhere want to run towards their train station and purchase a ticket towards this fabled land.
Permafrost – Come Back To Surprise
Genre: Post-Punk, Gothic / Dark Wave
Similar artists: Joy Division
Joy Division managed to change the world. Or, to be more accurate, they changed various pockets of the world at various times. Unlike their predecessors, the Sex Pistols, the band over which the members of Warsaw bonded, the Manchester quartet’s revolution was an unexpected one.
In his memoir, John Cooper Clarke talks about being booked with Joy Division, and later New Order, as his support acts. Mr Clarke saw ambition in what the young musicians were doing. Crowds were, at least initially, slow to warm up to the icey, evocative sounds of the group.
But, look now. They’re one of the most influential groups in the world. Permafrost are one of the groups that are not just paying tribute, but building their own world on the back of Peter Hook’s compelling basslines.
Come Back To Surprise echoes Joy Divison, but also the cold, unforgiving Norwegian scenery. It’s music that passes slowly, and leaves a mark, much like the Scandinavian winters.
