i want something synthy that is beautiful and horrible at the same time

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any recommendations?

preferably something which sounds like its seeping through the walls. with a fair amount of blood and organics involved.

it must be cold and beautiful and have the potential to change my life.

it must be electronic.

― Wyndham Earl, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Now the question is: which Throbbing Gristle do you start with? "The Second Annual Report"? "20 Jazz Funk Greats"? "Greatest Hits"?

― Brian MacDonald, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Suicide - before the 80s

― maryann, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Wire's 154?

Do NOT play the Faint, especially their latest album.

Young Marble Giants might fit the bill, too.

Tell me more about Throbbing Gristle, Brian.

― David Raposa, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Or Cabaret Voltaire, natch. "Seconds Too Late," perhaps?

Gary Numan's "Films." Second half of Bowie's Low, especially "Warzsawa" or "Subterreaneans." Kraftwerk perhaps a little too bloodless for what you're looking for. Mmm...

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Also, you could watch 'In a Year of 13 Moons'; that has a spooky scene with 'Franky Teardrop' by Suicide in it.

― maryann, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

there's a spaced-out cash money instrumentals lp. also visage are good.

― ethan, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ah yes, Suicide, duh. Anything off the first album.

Throbbing Gristle, David? Peter Christopherson who later founded Coil, Chris Carter and Cosey Fan Tutti who later founded Chris and Cosey, Genesis P-Orridge who later founded Psychic TV. As Throbbing Gristle, my god in heaven. "United," "Hamburger Lady," "Tiab Glus,"...

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Visage are good but not really creeped out per se, I think. Quietly haunting at points, yes.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Suicide are more like 'cold and spooky' than 'beautiful and horrible' but beauty is a tethering pole and horror used to be spookiness.

― maryann, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Here, that other thread sez you have The Pleasure Principle, W., so I know you like "Films." Has to be. ;-)

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Fassbinder's films (the director of 'In a Year ...') are beautiful and horrible, though, maybe that's why I suggested it. Why don't you just watch Fassbinder.

― maryann, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I don't suppose anyone will pay any attention to this but there's a guy called Matt Middleton who makes great music of this type as 'Crude.' His 'rock' band 'The Aesthetics' was recently reviewed in 'The Wire' - maybe that will encourage seriousness-taking - but if you wanted to hear some of his electronic music you could perhaps e-mail him at crude999@hotmail.com and ask him how.

― maryann, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

ohmigod, Frankie Teardrop...

i first heard that song a couple of years ago walking around Safeways with a shopping basket in my hand. i had it on a minidisc of the album that a friend had given me.

just very recently i had a very surreal moment involving that song one very strange night at university which is far too long and complicated to go into here, but when i leave, if i remember nothing else, i will remember that.

these are good examples although really what i was looking for was perhaps something more soundscapey. someone once suggested Arovane to me, who i found disappointing. maybe what i'm looking for has bits of aphex and bits of eno and lots of synths.

i have a feeling coil may help. i have horse rotorvator but i've yet to listen to it.

― Wyndham Earl, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Synthy as in synthetic/made mostly on synthesizers, or as in synthpop? I'll make a few suggestions.

The former:

Beequeen - "Mappa Mundi" (distortion drone soundscapes)
Download - "Furnace" or "The Eyes of Stanley Pain" (post-Skinny Puppy fucked-up digitalia)
Sara Ayers - "Sylvatica" (ambient washes of sound created from her manipulated voice, probably still avail. cheap at mp3.com)
Pressure of Speech - "50 Years of Peaces" (digital soundscapes with some beats, like Download but slower, FSOL without the operatic crap, or Lustmord if he added Pink Floyd helicopter hovering sounds)

The latter:

Underwater - "This is Not a Film" (please look into this now at www.submarinerecords.com, it's available dirt cheap. synthetic electronic rock/trip-hop/gloom, excellent songcraft, Melissa Mileski had some of the best voices I've ever heard, I love this album and it is cold, beautiful, electronic, and seeps through walls)
VNV Nation - "Empires" (some of the best synthpop-dance I've ever heard, and it only came out last year ... Ronan is from England and has this great, grey, war-torn voice, and the sequencing brings to mind the word 'virtuosity' in a way that I've only ever thought of in comparison to a Satriani solo before, never something electronic -- but not in a wanky anaesthetized sense!)

and beats:

Autechre - "Confield" (I'm assuming you've heard of this)
Posthuman - "The Uncertainty of the Monkey" (like a mix of Download, Autechre and Future Sound of London. came out last year, very stark and austere, excellent clicky layers meets great beats + bass. available at forcedexposure.com)
RISE|CONVERGE (great compilation of noise/dark hop/trip-hop tracks all sequenced together, avail. at collisionsubstance.com)

― Dare, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Heldon and Lard Free, both from France, were two electronic/avant- prog outfits from France in the 70s. Heldon played stuff sort of like a cross between King Crimson and proto industrial music, but also with a trance element (mostly due to *very* lengthy, repetitive songs). They're sort of obscure to most people, but did use lots of synth, and sort of pound you into submission in a nice (ie, not nice), proggy way.

Lard Free was much more on the "horrible" side. Personally, I think they were just more acid-fried, but their abilities to translate apparently horrid trips were incredible. Again, lots of synth, lots of otherworldly who-knows-what instruments playing. I think Suicide must have listened to them at some point, if you need another reference point.

For my money, France's experimental electronic music was infinitely darker than, say, Germany's, which gets most of the accolades these days.

― dleone, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

well yeah, obviously i was thinking more Autechre than Soft Cell...

a lot of those names are new to me so i'll check them out, but if they end up being wanky industrial then i will not be impressed.

― Wyndham Earl, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

V/Vm Female Pig Herder

― electric sound of jim, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'd say early Lustmord, which is atmospheric and very scary in places, but I'm worried about yr definition of "wanky industrial".

― Sean Carruthers, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

all the stuff you guys are saying sucks. especially TG. that shit is just straight up unlistenable. he obviously wants to hear cylob.

― chippy, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

who cylob?

― Wyndham Earl, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Wendy Carlos. What about the soundtrack to Clockwork Orange?

― Daniel, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Selected late-period Abba. Fuck that Autechre shit.

― Tom, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

has anyone heard Logan's Sanctuary? the soundtrack to the imagined sequel of Logan's Run. the idea sounds interesting.. apparently there's lots of nice old analogue synths.

also did anyone ever hear the Jeff Mills Metropolis thing and is it any good? anything to take the taste away from that foul giorgio moroder abomination.

QUEEN DO NOT BELONG ON SOUNDTRACKS.

APART FROM FLASH!!

― Wyndham Earl, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

all sinf orrible cos its not reel music all done by machines. casio cowboys like dave le travis said. quen used sinf on the game trators to the cause of rock even tho mercury poofy ponce they rok like mutha all queen records are krap after sheer art attak. motohed better until got mix up with laswel arty cunt.

ufo say doctor doctor i lovin u and thats the truf.

― XStatic Peace, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Human League's Reproduction?

― Andy K, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Abba's The Day Before You Came

very sad, very beautiful, not eerie: ABBA can not produce eerieness even if they try (on second thoughts, the mixed backingvocals have some gothic qualities, Gothic Sweden, that's it, very dark IKEA)

that song shoud have a thread on its own

― erik, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Human Leage's Darkness

which presents this thread in melodic synths completely unabridged

in darkness where my dreams are all too clear darkness darkness filled with all the sounds of FEAR

― erik, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

ABBA eeriness - "Like An Angel Passing Through My Room"

― Tom, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

still there is no sign of blood creeping through the walls here, but The Day Before you cCame will definitely change your life, at least your opiniobns about Sweden's hitfactory

oh, stop it, erik

― erik, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I can't believe no one has mentioned Skinny Puppy or Severed Heads. Look for _Remission_, _Bites_, _Too Dark Park_, or _Last Rights_ by Skinny Puppy; _Come Visit The Big Bigot_, _Since The Accident_, _City Slab Horror_, or _Bad Mood Guy_ by Severed Heads. Even better, get them both in one fun package: _Doubting Thomas_ by Doubting Thomas.

― Dan Perry, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

hey if you want to hear cylob, you better email me or ed.

my solution to this is eurythmics 'love is a stranger'

― ambrose, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I didn't mention Skinny Puppy because I thought it was too obvious, from the description. I mean, Bites has the track "Blood on the Wall" and Ogre always sounds like he's gargling shredded organ meat. Too perfect a fit for the question in a lot of ways.

― Sean Carruthers, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Bernard Herrmann "The Day the Earth Stood Still" Soundtrack
Pansonic "Vakio"
Plastikman "Consumed"

― Curt, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Lil Wayne's "Tha Block is Hot." I was listening to it this morning as I was getting ready for work and thinking about how dark it is. It's got the least happy party jams of any of those 2nd-wave Cash Money releases and even the singles--"Tha Block is Hot," "Drop It Like It's Hot" etc--are less Lil Wayne reveling in his hedonism and wealth than they are his futile attempts to get enjoyment out of them. That takes care of the horrible part. It gets beautiful when Mannie drops in one of those crazy stuttering bounce breaks and a couple bars of triple- time Casio bleeps, as if he's reminding you that it's *dance* music and not to take Wayne's bitching too seriously. The most recent BG album, Checkmate, also uses this kind of contrast but in a more hard boiled gritty way.

― adam, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's not horrible but TRISOMIE 21, aka T21 has some sinister stuff along with some very beautiful stuff too.. Most of it is electronic. They began as more of a gothic industrial group but they evolved to more of a new age/ambient group..

check out their official website at The Official TRISOMIE 21 Home Page http://www.geocities.com/sscwon/t21.html http://t21.isCool.net http://come.to/t21

― todd, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Toog has a song about someone singing of his girlfriend teeth, which has a dentist drill mixed trough the electronics, i can't listen to it, if scare me off

it's from the 6633 album of course

― erik, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Do NOT play the Faint, especially their latest album.

Wot is this Faint bashing all about, hm? They wouldn't be my first choice for this question, but they're certainly one of more interesting indie acts out there.

On the topic at hand, I'd say Biosphere's Substrata.

― bnw, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Fennesz Plus Forty Seven Degrees 56' 37" Minus Sixteen Degrees 51' 08".

― Mark, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Anniversary.

― JM, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Faint's latest album is the first one worth the 1s and 0s it's encoded in. Still, they make Ladytron sound original by comparison.

― Curt, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

yeah ladytron is good. I think the latest Faint album is a lot of fun too, but not "beautiful and horrible at the same time" - it is synthy tho

― g, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

the faint suck so bad. they are more concerned with their clothes then the way their songs sound. the singer ALWAYS uses the same vocal melody EVERY song and the lyrics are stupid. the poor mans DMX Krew if you will.

― chaki, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

they are more concerned with their clothes then the way their songs sound.

*cue ILM attitude* So?

I've heard some Ladytron songs. They seem quite similar to the Faint, with possibly less of a rock influence. One thing I do know is that the Faint kick serious booty live.

― bnw, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

adult. or the lack would work, maybe.

― maura, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Klaus Shultze - Blackdance. It's even got a creepy cover to look at while it's playing.

― nickn, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

yes, i think we're straying from the original brief somewhat with Ladytron.

they haven't changed my life.

to reiterate: SEEPING THROUGH WALLS. BLOOD. CAPACITY TO CHANGE LIVES.

none of this indie pop shite please.

― Wyndham Earl, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

depeche mode "just can't get enough" or anything by yazoo

― bob snoom, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

maybe some Labradford would fit the bill

― g, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Suicide = "indie pop shite" if anyone was.

― Tom, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The DM vs Erasure thread reminded me: Depeche Mode's Ultra fits the bill if anything does. That album has a lot to teach people about synth sounds.

― Tim, Sunday, 27 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hey, I'll go with that. Give Tim Simenon the credit, too.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 28 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Sugar Daddy" by Secret Knowledge, on the Sabres of Paradise comp Septic Cuts. Actual life-changingness somewhat subjective, but it's got that potential. It's like goth trance or something and has spooky thunder noises at the beginning and a huge breakdown where she shrieks for what seems like five minutes. Good stuff.

― Tracer hand, Monday, 28 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You must let us know if any of this succeeds, Wyndham.

― Dare, Thursday, 31 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I should note that my copy of "Septic Cuts" used to belong to one Michael Bourke, one of the very few participants in the short-lived (but for us, successful) ILM rekkid-trading dealie. Tho that reminds me - Patrick Calimero Odysee your REKKIDS NEVER ARRIVED!

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 31 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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