OMM Anniversary & Updates

Obscure Media Monday celebrated its anniversary somewhere in the haze of November. There were around 32 entries of content in that year, slightly better than an every-other week average. To kick off year two, here are some updates on previously featured artists:


Abney Park has a new album, Aether Shanties, coming out Dec. 1^st. Captain Robert has posted a two of the tracks for download.


Tapping the Vein's second album, Another Day Down, is available from Amazon.com and is as solid as their first.

Die Warzau's excellent, Convenience, is currently available from Pulseback Records.

Nouvelle Vague's third album, Nouvelle Vague 3, was released in June in Europe and is now available in the States via Amazon.com.

Finally, if you missed it during its short theater run, The Hurt Locker will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray on Jan. 2^nd. OMM will cover another Kathryn Bigelow movie, Strange Days, in the near future.

Nouvelle Vague

As I've mentioned before, cover songs give a muscial artist, especially an lesser known artist, the opportunity to play in sandbox that is familiar to listeners. Regardless, not many bands attempt more than a handful of cover songs during their careers. Few want the title of "cover band." That label's unsavory connotation possibly exists because most cover bands stick to faithful renditions of songs. Very few have the character to embrace such a label and do so with style. Nouvelle Vague is one of those bands.

Meaning "new wave" in French and "bossa nova" in Portuguese¹, Nouvelle Vague began with its name firmly in mind. Their first album contained covers of songs from the New Wave era done in bossa nova style. The pairing, while strange, leads to music with a dreamy, surreal quality. Additionally, band masterminds Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux often used chanteuses that were not familiar with the original, lending freshness to their vocals.

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" (orinally by Joy Division) off of Nouvelle Vague, 2004:


Such a construct could only lend itself to one album without evolution. Nouvelle Vague has currently managed three since 2004. Their second album Bande à Part deviated somewhat from the bossa nova premise, adding elements of ska, reggae, and other styles while keeping breathy vocals and signature bounciness. Their third album 3 branches into country and bluegrass sounds. 3 also contains guest vocals by the song's original vocalists. For example, "Master and Servant" with Melanie Pain and Depeche Mode's Martin Gore:



Nouvelle Vague's first two albums are available through Amazon.com and other retailers. 3 has a June 2009 release date and isn't yet readily available.

¹http://www.nouvellesvagues.com/ABOUT_texte.html

Covered in Black

Cover songs have the ability to truly let obscure music artists shine. There's nothing like a familiar song done in a different way to catch a listener's ear. Nonetheless, it's often difficult to find a really good album of covers. The music of the original artist might be too far ranging to lead to a cohesive album when the styles of the cover artists involved also vary. One of the best cover albums I've heard involves an artist with a solid style, AC/DC, and group of artists working in a complementary genre, industrial music.

In 1996, Cleopatra Records (notable purveyors of goth and industrial music) released Covered In Black: An Industrial Tribute To The Kings Of High Voltage, AC/DC. As with any album, not every song is great, but most of the industrial artists do a good job of adding a new dimension to the songs while staying true to the spirit of the original. (The exception being Pigface Vs. Sheep On Drugs' befuddling rendition of titular "Back in Black.") An example of a well done cover can be found in The Electric Hellfire Club's version of "Highway to Hell":



Also outstanding are "Squealer" covered by the particularly obscure female industrial group Genitorturers, and "TNT" covered by Sister Machine Gun. In all, Covered in Black is a worthwhile listen for an industrial music fan. It is current available as a digital download from Amazon.com.