It's back chosties - by popular demand (not actually) here are my heavily monochromatic ALBUMS™️ OF™️ THE™️ WEEK™️ (👏)
- Clan of Xymox, Medusa - Medusa is this week's Standing™️ Favorite™️ (phrase Standing Favorite copyright by me). I don't like most of the other Clan of Xymox albums I’ve tried, but I love Medusa, which manages to combine the distinctly ethereal 4AD sound with prominent synths and a dance-floor focus. The dancey tracks are great (the title track especially), but the quieter, more hauntingly 4AD compositions are also fantastic (the sapphic "Masquerade", I love it). The result is, despite sometimes embarassing lyrics ("I'M DEEPLY AGONIZED BY YOU DEEPLY AGONIZED BY LOVE") a pioneering darkwave album and something unique in the 4AD catalog
- Area, Radio Caroline - I saw this band described as "Midwestern Cocteau Twins", which, while reductive, definitely captures some of their vibe. "Sweet Revenge", with its low-key mood, jangly guitar, and saxophone, was enough to sell me on the album but the whole thing is great. Really excited to listen to more of Area's work
- The Sound, Jeopardy - The Sound's debut album leads with an amazing album cover, then follows it up with the best type of post-punk - scraggly, overflowing with unpolished energy and unafraid of synthy keyboards. This album absolutely moves, it is fantastic
- Asylum Party, Borderline - I listened to this French coldwave classic on a recommendation from @huldratigress and loved it. Like Medusa, it's sitting on the atmospheric, synth-heavy area of the goth music spectrum, but with more of a foot in the dark, moody post-punk that spawned the goth scene in the first place. Album closer "Pictures" is especially worth a listen