This week’s lineup is unusually cohesive! It’s rare that I am listening to a consistent style of music at any one given time. Heavy on the electronics and each with a sinister sound, you will find the playlist is both dark and dance-able. This week’s lineup is truly international with artists from the U.S., Sweden, France, and Albania.
The Doctors are a French duo that blend cold wave, and post-punk influences together to create a visceral, bombastic, and hypnotic electropunk. Combining driving bass, saturated guitars, growling keyboards, pulsing percussion and disaffected vocals, their sound is nervy, energetic and sinister. The Doctors have their finger on the pulse of dark dance-floor tracks. Recently releasing their seven track album Unterwelt on Manic Depression Records the tracks featured tonight from this release include “Unterwelt,” “Inferno,” and “L’Intégral.”
Roya is an Iranian American artist who now resides in Stockholm, Sweden. Her melancholic and dark electronic themes incorporate heavy rhythms, with hints of middle eastern melodies. Growing up in Seattle during the 90’s grunge scene, with parents that emigrated from Iran, she attributes these contrasting cultures as flavoring her sparse, sparkling sound. Recently releasing her first EP entitled Trax, we feature three songs from this release including “Centrum,” Day One,” and “Dead Air.”
The Faint were forefathers of the electroclash genre from the late 90’s and early aughts, ushering in a new era of electronic dance rock. Heralding from the breadbasket of the United States in Omaha, Nebraska, they create powerful electronic dance tunes that are infectious, simmering and sexually seething. They recently released a retrospective of their work entitled Capsule: 1999 – 2016, it includes tracks from Blank-Wave Arcade, Danse Macabre, Wet From Birth, Fasciinatiion, Doom Abuse, and 2016’s “Young & Realistic” single. Tracks featured tonight include one of my favorite older tracks “The Conducter,” and two bonus tracks from the new release “Skylab1979” and “ESP.”
i Tpame i Tvrame is an Albanian duo that I have featured previously on Strawberry Tongue. They have continuously released new music throughout 2016 that is as breathtaking as it is exhilarating. They create moody, swirling and somber tone poems that draw you into dark, otherworldly spaces. Combining sequences of drums, synths, growling guitars and obscured vocals, duo Dina Hajrullahu & Franc Kurti are creating an intriguing take on modern coldwave. Tracks featured tonight include “Today,” “Will Never Forget,” and “Et tu Brute.”
Xiu Xiu is the longtime project of Jamie Stewart. Over the years, he’s enlisted many other artists to collaborate with him. Since 2009, he’s been accompanied by Angelo Seo and most recently has added Shayna Dunkelman to the creative mix. Somewhere between experimental, electronic, noise pop and art rock, Xiu Xiu consistently pushes boundaries with its bombastic, exhilerating and sometimes confessional litanies. Never a band to shirk away from confrontation, you either love Xiu Xiu or you loathe them…and that’s not necessarily the worst place to be. Xiu Xiu have announced their upcoming release Forget, to be released in February 2017. With pre-orders, they have released a sneak peak of the upcoming album with the single “Wondering,” which is featured tonight along with two older tracks “Stupid in the Dark” from Angel Guts: Red Classroom and “Hi” from Always.
That’s it for this week’s edition of the Friday Night Five. Be sure to tune in to Strawberry Tongue Radio at 19:00, 21:00 and 23:00 EDT to hear selected tracks from each of these bands and be sure to visit their websites for more information about their latest work and to purchase their tracks. Also, be sure to listen to Strawberry Tongue Radio to hear our unique playlist featuring current and classic artists playing post punk, new wave, indie, electronic and experimental music.