![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seedarklyxeroWelcome to SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies:
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
February is the month I devote to those dark/goth/industrial covers that appeal to a Dark Valentinian motif... and for 2018 it focuses on 3 Loves & A Crush!
The Second Sunday Slowly downtempo cover offered during this Valentine's week is a dark cabaret version of a familiar gothic rock anthem from a band who also did a track actually called Valentine! :
Johnny Hollow - Temple of Love (Sisters of Mercy)
Sisters of Mercy released their fifth single, Temple of Love, in October of 1983, before even their first full length album. Pressings with the extended seven-minute version included Heartland and their cover of Gimme Shelter as its b-sides. After a few years of the single being out of print, all three tracks from it were also included on their first hits compilation, Some Girls Wander by Mistake in 1992. That year, the Sisters also re-recorded Temple of Love, added in some exotic backing vocals from Israeli singer Ofra Haza, and re-released the single. Both releases were strong successes on indie charts, but for as well known as the song is still today and for the airplay it has received over the years, it didn't achieve much mainstream recognition. Frontman Andrew Eldritch doubtless is unconcerned; in one 1993 interview he stated that the Sisters of Mercy "might not mean as much to as many people but we mean more to the people that we reach." He added, "Ultimately, if I have to choose between reaching more people or reaching a few people deeper, I would choose to reach a few people deeper, every time."
Some of the artists they have reached deeply enough to inspire covers from them include Technova, Reizstrom, Unwoman, and easily over a dozen death metal bands.
Johnny Hollow, based in Ontario, Canada, bill themselves as "gothic chamber music for the 21st century." In their music you can hear an amalgam of darkwave, triphop, and the vague ambient romanticism of steampunk as they blend the orchestral and the electronic. Their cover of Temple of Love was released in January 2014 on their self-released album, A Collection of Creatures. On Valentine's Day 2015, they dedicated the track to their fans, and then immediately decided to simply make it available for free download from their Bandcamp page (where it is still available for free on their 2015 sampler, A Playlist for Sadie.)
It would seem their arrangement may have been more inspired by the 1992 version of the original as it emphasizes similar ritualistic and tribal feelings that Ofra Haza imparts, creating an ensorcelling effect that draws you in and carries you on escalating rhythmic undulations. Its downtempo style and its classically trained female vocalist present a vastly different expression of the Sisters of Mercy's classic track; less like thunder and more like the black wind come carry you away.:
The Cover:
On Bandcamp
The Original:
Next week:
Our month of Dark Valentinian covers continues with a Third Sunday Throwback to the 20th century. Another familiar song, this time a post-punk/new wave track from the 80's, got covered in the earliest days of a modern industrial/futurepop act and when you love their way, a kiss is not enough!
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
The first of my February gigs is on a "battlefield" this Friday! What's that mean? What else is in store this month? Check my schedule for those details! ↼‿ಠ
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Feb 04 - Rotersand - A Strange Kind Of Love (Peter Murphy)
Jan 28 - Reizstrom - Blister In The Sun(Violent Femmes)
Jan 21 - Course of Empire - Blue Moon(Connie Boswell)
Jan 14 - Buried Things ft. Shari Vari - Cowboy (Portishead)
Jan 07 - Klack - Pump Up The Jam (Technotronic)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
February is the month I devote to those dark/goth/industrial covers that appeal to a Dark Valentinian motif... and for 2018 it focuses on 3 Loves & A Crush!
The Second Sunday Slowly downtempo cover offered during this Valentine's week is a dark cabaret version of a familiar gothic rock anthem from a band who also did a track actually called Valentine! :
Johnny Hollow - Temple of Love (Sisters of Mercy)
Sisters of Mercy released their fifth single, Temple of Love, in October of 1983, before even their first full length album. Pressings with the extended seven-minute version included Heartland and their cover of Gimme Shelter as its b-sides. After a few years of the single being out of print, all three tracks from it were also included on their first hits compilation, Some Girls Wander by Mistake in 1992. That year, the Sisters also re-recorded Temple of Love, added in some exotic backing vocals from Israeli singer Ofra Haza, and re-released the single. Both releases were strong successes on indie charts, but for as well known as the song is still today and for the airplay it has received over the years, it didn't achieve much mainstream recognition. Frontman Andrew Eldritch doubtless is unconcerned; in one 1993 interview he stated that the Sisters of Mercy "might not mean as much to as many people but we mean more to the people that we reach." He added, "Ultimately, if I have to choose between reaching more people or reaching a few people deeper, I would choose to reach a few people deeper, every time."
Some of the artists they have reached deeply enough to inspire covers from them include Technova, Reizstrom, Unwoman, and easily over a dozen death metal bands.
Johnny Hollow, based in Ontario, Canada, bill themselves as "gothic chamber music for the 21st century." In their music you can hear an amalgam of darkwave, triphop, and the vague ambient romanticism of steampunk as they blend the orchestral and the electronic. Their cover of Temple of Love was released in January 2014 on their self-released album, A Collection of Creatures. On Valentine's Day 2015, they dedicated the track to their fans, and then immediately decided to simply make it available for free download from their Bandcamp page (where it is still available for free on their 2015 sampler, A Playlist for Sadie.)
It would seem their arrangement may have been more inspired by the 1992 version of the original as it emphasizes similar ritualistic and tribal feelings that Ofra Haza imparts, creating an ensorcelling effect that draws you in and carries you on escalating rhythmic undulations. Its downtempo style and its classically trained female vocalist present a vastly different expression of the Sisters of Mercy's classic track; less like thunder and more like the black wind come carry you away.:
The Cover:
On Bandcamp
The Original:
Next week:
Our month of Dark Valentinian covers continues with a Third Sunday Throwback to the 20th century. Another familiar song, this time a post-punk/new wave track from the 80's, got covered in the earliest days of a modern industrial/futurepop act and when you love their way, a kiss is not enough!
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
The first of my February gigs is on a "battlefield" this Friday! What's that mean? What else is in store this month? Check my schedule for those details! ↼‿ಠ
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Feb 04 - Rotersand - A Strange Kind Of Love (Peter Murphy)
Jan 28 - Reizstrom - Blister In The Sun(Violent Femmes)
Jan 21 - Course of Empire - Blue Moon(Connie Boswell)
Jan 14 - Buried Things ft. Shari Vari - Cowboy (Portishead)
Jan 07 - Klack - Pump Up The Jam (Technotronic)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies